The difference one more makes
by Hard-headed-woman
Summary: Everyone thinks they know Tony Stark. His hopes, dreams, even his past. But what if that was all fake. What if the biggest secret of his past came back? What if it joined the Avengers? FYI, this is SLASH!
1. Chapter 1

It was the start of something big.

He could feel it.

"Tony, do you mind?"

Or at least it would be if the group of extraordinary people in front of him learned to work together. Watching with his one good eye as Stark poked Banner in the side with a pen, Nick Fury prayed to every deity for the patience he would need to get through the day.

"Stark!" he snapped, finally having enough of Steve's huffing. "Stop assaulting Dr Banner with that pen and pay attention."

Rolling his eyes, Stark stuck his tongue out, but put the pen down all the same.

"Why were we even called here?" the multi-millionaire whined, grating on the Director's last nerve. "Bruce and I just had a break-through on locating the Teseract, and it's not like Green horns there can do much in his padded cell."

Feeling Thor tense up beside her, Natasha turned to the playboy and glared.

"Maybe if you shut up, we'll find out."

Sending the Russian a quick glance of gratitude, Fury pointed to the two giant screens that were being lowered behind him. "We have just received word that someone we've been tracking for quite some time has come out of the woodwork."

The effect of the words was instant. Steve and Natasha straightened in their seats, their full attention on the mission, whilst Bruce shuffled even further back into his, making himself as small as physically possible. Thor raised an eyebrow, but otherwise did not seem overly interested. The only one that didn't seem fazed by the news of a possible threat was Tony.

Picking up the pen he had abandoned earlier, the genius flipped it over a couple of times before using it to point at the Director. "So what? Your agents couldn't take him on, so you've decided to beg us for help. I thought we were already on a 'save the world' mission?"

"He's not a foe, Stark."

Picking up the small remote that Steve had been fiddling with earlier, Fury pointed it at the large screen and pressed play. Instantly the group was bombarded with footage of a young man with black hair and emerald eyes, fighting his way through a battlefield.

"Oi," Natasha muttered, eyes wide as she watched the lithe man take down a solider twice his size.

Pushing his seat back, Tony glared at the man before him. "How do you know Him?" he barked, not paying the slightest bit of attention to the screens or the rest of the people now looking at him.

"I told you Mr Stark, we've been keeping an eye on him. He disappeared for a while, but now that we've found him-"

"You what?"

"-he will be debriefed," Fury continued, ignoring the brunette. "Gentlemen; Lady, I would like you all to meet your newest member-"


	2. Chapter 2

It was a day just like any other, or at least that was the thought running through one of the few people walking the street. Glancing up at the cloudless sky, emerald eyes sighed softly. It very had much been that way since the war had ended. Calm.

Taking a sharp turn down an alley way, the slender man continued his pace down the rarely used road till he came to a stop at a wooden door. The bright red paint had long since faded and began to crack, and the no.1 was missing from its place next to the 3 and 8, but that did not deter the man. Pulling a ring of keys out of his trench coat pocket, emerald eyes quickly found the one they were after, and slotted it into the lock.

Sliding his way through, the young man closed the door behind him with a sharp snap, and sighed in relief. Placing the paper bag down on top of a table in the hall, military style boots clunked on the varnished wood, as their owner made their way into the house.

It wasn't much, he knew that, but it was undetectable, and that was what he needed. After all, who would expect to find the Boy Who lived in a dingy little flat in Manhattan?

Stripping himself of the dark grey trench coat, Harry glanced around the clutter that was his home, as he made his way to the kettle. Piles of what others would called junk littered the corners of the room. Newspaper clippings attacked the walls, some going so far as ten years prior. String and other little nick-nacks connecting each article to the next. The only spot that did not seem to be consumed by the chaos, was a little table off to the left, that held three photo frames, nothing more.

Pulling open the cupboard above the sink, Harry reached for his favourite cup, but stopped.

"Would you care for a cup, Agent? Or would you prefer to hide in the shadows for a little longer?"

Turning around slowly, pink, slightly chapped lips tilted slightly upwards as a man in a well kept suit stepped away from his hiding spot and straightened himself.

"That would be nice, thank you."

Going back to the job at hand, Harry methodically placed the teabags in the cups before pouring the water.

"I must say," he muttered, knowing that the man would hear him. "Of all the government agencies to finally track me down, I wasn't putting my money on SHEILD."

Lifting a photo up with one finger as to get a better look at the article beneath it, the dirty blonde shrugged. "We did lose track of you for a while," he agreed. "But then our IT tracers picked you back up about a week ago. I take it you heard about what happened?"

"Rumours."

Handing a slightly chipped mug over to the blonde, Harry motioned for the man to take a seat, doing the same himself. "What do you want Coulson?"

"Your help."

Raising an eyebrow, emerald eyes stared at the man before him. It had been four years since he had last seen the man, three since they had last spoke. Before then they had been close. Coulson had been the stability that Harry had needed after the war, and Harry had been the connection to the outside world that Phil had secretly craved.

Taking a sip of the brew, Phil felt his lips quirk upwards. Four years and he still knew how he liked it.

"I wouldn't work for SHEILD then, what makes you think that I will now?"

"Because you won't be." Placing the mug down, Coulson pulled a bag out of seamlessly no-where, and retrieved the laptop that was hidden within. "We currently have a situation on our hands, and Director Fury has decided that the best possible chance we have is by gathering as many like minded individuals together."

"So in other words, he's creating an army."

Ignoring the statement, Coulson continued to track down the file he was after, before opening it and turning the screen around to face the young man.

"This," he continued, tapping the screen with his finger. "Is an energy source called the Tesseract-"

"I remember it." Looking down at the picture of the blue glowing box, Harry frowned in worry. "I was told to leave after it reacted to my magic and caused half the building to collapse."

Nodding in agreement, grey eyes watched the warrior intently. "After that mishap, we transferred it to what we thought was a secure location. A god by the name of Loki recently relinquished us of it, and with it several men, including Agent Barton."

Snapping his head up, emerald eyes bore into grey. "I thought Hawkeye was in Peru?"

"That's what we wanted everyone to think. Barton was on lookout duty when it happened."

Scrubbing his face with a blistered hand, Harry leant back in his chair and sighed. "So what do you want me to do?"

Turning the laptop back around, Coulson opened another file and pressed play. "We want you to help lead them and save the world."

* * *

The drive to the airport was spent in silence.

After spending most of the day discussing exactly what was going on and how much control SHEILD would have over the mission, Coulson had left Harry to pack what few belongings he wished to take, before escorting him to the jet that would take them to the Helicarrier.

Rubbing his face tiredly, Harry glanced over at the blonde and smirked.

"You know," he stated, trying to not let the smile he had been holding in show. "Next time your agency fucks up, just ask."

Lifting his head, Coulson let out a small smile. "The squad wasn't my idea."

Half way through the day, a newbie had become antsy by the lack of noise and movement coming from the flat, and against everything that he had been told before leaving, had gone in to check if everything was alright. Glancing over at the still red man, Harry recalled Coulson's tongue lashing, and chuckled.

"I know."

Sitting down next to the man, Harry stretched his arms above his head, sighing happily when a large pop was heard.

"I haven't been in one of these since we first met," he sighed, glancing around in mild interest. "How many years was that, eight? Nine?"

"Ten," Coulson smirked, leaning forward so that his elbows were resting on his knees. "It was right after you decided to play around with the Australian military."

"Right, right," Harry nodded, remembering the complaints he received due to the paperwork everyone had to fill out. "You came in all MIB on me, and I got you in trouble by yelling out that you were a pervert-"

"I'm still not allowed anywhere near the Ipswich base."

Chuckling, Harry threaded his arm around Phil's and lent his head against his shoulder. "Why haven't we talked? It's been way too long."

Pulling his arm out of the shorter man's hold, Phil wrapped it around the younger and pulled him close. "Because you decided to stick your head into another governments business; and then go into hiding while I cleaned up the mess."

Rolling his eyes, Harry looked up at the man and smiled. "You haven't changed one bit."

"Yes I have." Running a hand through the other's messy black locks. "It's you that hasn't."

Sobering, Harry moved off the blonde and sighed at the loss of body heat. "Yes, well," he muttered, glancing up at one of the few people he had left. "I suppose that's what happens when you can't die."


	3. Chapter 3

The ride to the 'floating fortress in the sky'; as Harry had mentally dubbed it, took less than an hour. Jumping out of the jet, Harry mock saluted the soldiers still within, before picking up his duffle bag and following the blonde to the entrance.

Pausing at the door, Coulson turned to the brunette and smirked. "Are you ready?"

Raising an eyebrow, Harry smirked back. "As ready as ever."

After being shown the quarters he would be sharing with one of the men he was expected to work with, the brunette was shuffled down the hall, bounced from one agent to the next, till he finally found himself standing next to Coulson once more.

Walking down yet another hall, Harry let his eyes take in every aspect of the Helicarrier with as much discretion as possible.

"Last time I was around, this was just a rumour. How long has Fury had it up and running?"

Coulson hummed. "Five years now. This is its first flight in battle mode though."

Nodding in appreciation, Harry went to open the door that they had come to, but was stopped. Motioning for the man to listen, Coulson let go of the other and smiled.

"_-we've been keeping an eye on him. He disappeared for a while, but now that we've found him-"_

"_You what?"_

Inwardly chuckling at the squawk of indignation, Harry ignored the look Coulson threw at him, and continued to listen.

"_-he will be debriefed. Gentlemen; Lady, I would like you all to meet your newest member-"_

"That's you."

Opening the steel door, Coulson placed a hand on the small of Harry's back and gently pushed. Glaring back at the man, Harry warped his face back into one of indifference, and stalked into the room. A wall of glass wrapped its way around most of the bridge, casting the men and women working at the desks in a warm red glow. Soldiers and personnel raced around, shouting out once in a while; most being done by a sever looking woman with black hair and don't-mess-with-me attitude. Tearing his attention away from the mass, emerald eyes turned their attention to the what appeared to be the conference table, and quirked an eyebrow.

A blonde man that; if Harry knew no better, would call a giant sat at the end of the left. On his right was a redheaded woman that, whilst calm and unmoving, Harry could tell was well trained, and so tightly wound that he was surprised she hadn't bounced out of her seat yet. The next man was also blonde, and after a quick glance, Harry recognised him from the cards he had bought for Coulson on his thirtieth birthday.

The small brunette was another he recognised. Taking note to make the man feel welcome to come to him, Harry tried to get a glimpse of the last man at the table, but was stopped when a hand shoved its way into his view.

"Mr Potter."

Following the limb up until he came to the head attached to it, Harry tilted his head. "Director," he murmured bowing his head slightly in recognition. "Last time I saw you, you had two eyes."

Clenching his fingers, Fury pulled back his untouched hand and stared back down at the man before him. "It was a necessary loss for the success of the mission. You understand this, of course?"

Feeling his teeth clench at the words, Harry forced a polite smiled onto his face. "Of course."

Smirking down at the shorter man, Fury placed a commanding hand on his shoulder, steering him around to the head of the table.

"As I was saying," Fury continued, tightening his hold on the man; not that either gave the fact away. "I would like to introduce you all to Mr Harry Potter. Potter, these are Thor, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner and-"

"-Tony Stark."

Flicking a glance between the man beside him and the man at the end of the table, Fury ignored the whisper and continued on as if nothing happened. "I trust that Agent Coulson has filled you in on the details?"

Blinking his eyes to dispel the shock of seeing the man, Harry turned the Director, closing off all emotion once more. "Yes sir."

Patting his shoulder, Fury took one last glance at the man before turning away. "Good. Captain, he'll be bunking in with you, make sure that he's brought up to scratch."

Walking away before he could so much as get a 'yes, sir', Fury motioned for Hill to follow him.

Rolling his eyes at the dramatic man, Harry turned back to the group and shrugged. "Say something about a man's eye, and get the cold shoulder."

Paying no attention to the frown Coulson was sending his way, Harry went to greet the one man that he wanted more than anything to talk to, but was halted by a wall off muscle. Tilting his head upward, the brunette felt like he would fall over if he kept going, when he finally came across a pair of dazzling blue eyes.

"Hello."

Closing his eyes slowly, Harry counted to five before reopening him. Nope, the super soldier was still there. Watching as the man stuck his arm out, Harry tilted his lips, but did not reach out for it. "I don't shake hands."

Looking somewhat put out, Steve lowered his hand, but did not let that stop him from introducing himself. "I'm Steve Rogers-"

"Also known as Captain America," Harry quipped, his eye drawn to the two brunettes leaving the bridge as quickly as possible. "You were an icon during world war two, along with your friend Bucky. After being injected with a super serum by Dr Abraham Erskine, you became the 'first superhero', saving millions of lives. Stark Industries has been funding the search for you since your plane crashed in the Arctic nearly seventy years ago, and found you approx six months ago. Stark was called an idiot for not calling off the search when his father died twenty years ago, but his belief was that no hero should be left buried and forgotten."

Closing his eyes to the door Stark and Banner had walked out of before he had even opened his mouth, Harry reopened his eyes and turned back to the shocked blonde. "It is a pleasure to meet you Captain, but if you could excuse me."

Slipping around the frozen man, Harry stalked his way across the room and to the door. His trench coat billowing in his wake.


	4. Chapter 4

Bruce was never much of a people person. Even before his giant green accident, Bruce had kept clear of most people. It wasn't because he was shy or anything, he just found them to be too dull; and found it much easier to keep clear of them, than explain exactly why he had no interest in the Kardashians, or who Britney was dating.

He had once tried to have what he thought was a light conversation with a date; about the latest findings of NASA, but was disheartened when she left soon after, saying that she had forgotten to feed her cat.

So when he had met Tony for the first time, he was inwardly ecstatic. Despite living in places most didn't know existed, Bruce had followed some of the Billionaire's work; going so far as to post for past copies of science magazines, just so he could read up on what the man was working on and how he planned on doing it. The fact that the man had not eyed the brunette with suspicion or fear, had made Bruce's inner fan girl even more giddy.

Hoping not to make too much of a fool of himself, Bruce had showed the fellow genius to their work space, and soon had fallen into a synchronisation that was only found in partners that had worked together for many years. It was a dream come true for the man, one that he did not wish to end.

Unfortunately it was just as they were adding the final set of algorithms to the computer, that one of Fury's lackeys decided to burst in on their 'geek-out'. Smirking at Tony's reply to the summons, Bruce placed the notebook he had been working from gently on the table, before following the other out of the room and to the bridge.

Keeping his head down for most of the meeting, Bruce raised an eyebrow at the philanthropist's outburst, but otherwise kept silent. He continued to keep an eye on the man beside him, and once the meeting was over, followed him as he practically ran from the bridge.

"Tony," he called out, hoping that the man would eventually slow down. "Tony wait!"

Smiling when the brunette turned left, Bruce let out a sigh of relief and slowed down. It would appear that the other was heading back to the lab, and if that was the case, then he would simply corner him when he got there.

* * *

How did they find Him?

Ignoring the voice; that sounded an awful lot like JARVIS, telling him to stay and confront the emerald eyed man, Tony stood from his seat and walked briskly from the room. Making his way back to the lab, Tony growled at the million different thoughts running through his head, all of which were concerned with what had happened-

"Nope."

Shaking his head to dispel the train of thought, chocolate brown eyes watched as the door before them slid open, before glancing around the table for a distraction. Picking up the notebook he vaguely remembered Bruce holding before they left, Tony flicked through the pages, before landing on the equation that they had been having trouble with.

"Tony?"

Lowering his head as the doctor made his way into the room, Tony picked up a pen that was abandoned earlier, hoping that his new science bro would get the picture.

"I'm not leaving."

Damn.

Closing his eyes, Tony silently listened as the other man shuffled his way around the table, causing the stool to squeak as he sat.

"I here talking about it helps."

Cracking one eye open, Tony sent the shorter man a humourless grin. "And you would know all about that, wouldn't you?"

Receiving a self-depreciating smile back, Tony glanced back down at the paper and frowned. "It's nothing that will endanger anyone, don't worry."

Reaching over the table, Bruce pried the book out of the stubborn man's fingers, and placed it on his lap. "If it's not dangerous," he spoke, boring his eyes into the other's head. "Then why won't you tell me."

Taking a deep breath, Tony raised his head to reply, but stopped when the soft whooshing sound of the door opening, hit his ears. Knowing who it was before he even turned around, Tony felt his heart skip a beat as chocolate brown made caught sight of emerald green.

"Hello Tony." Harry whispered, drinking in as much of the man before him as possible. "We need to talk."

* * *

The walk to the Lab that Stark and Banner had apparently taken over was not a long one for Harry. He knew that he shouldn't have blown off Rogers like he had, but he had far more worrying matters to deal with. Coulson was just going to have to chase him down later about it.

Casting a quick point me spell, emerald eyes checked to make sure he was going in the right direction, before stalking his way down the hall once more. Catching a quick glance of the one he was hunting for through the glass wall, Harry took and long breath and closed his eyes.

It was now or never.

Feeling his magic thrum calmly under his skin, Harry walked towards the door and waited for it to open. Noticing the sudden tension appear in Stark's shoulders, the brunette smiled. Stark could always tell when he was near, even if he couldn't see him.

Waiting for the man to turn, Harry drank in as much of him as he possibly could. Just over two years had past, and he didn't look a day older than he had last seen him. Hair still defied gravity, much his own, only Tony's was by the engineer running his fingers through it every five seconds. His attire had not changed either. Formal suits where what the public saw, but the moment he got home or was working on something, he would slip into a pair of jeans and an old shirt with a band logo plastered across the chest.

Taking in the newest addition to the Tony Stark look; a glowing blue arc reactor, Harry smiled softly and looked the man in the eyes.

"Hello Tony," He whispered. "We need to talk."

Jumping off the stool, Tony strode around the room and to nearest computer screen, keeping his attention off the man that had just walked in. "I don't think so," he replied, as airily as he could, hoping to come off as his usual confidant self. "I don't think you've met the good doctor. Bruce this is a heinous witch; heinous witch this is Bruce Banner. Now that you've met each other, leave; we have important sciency stuff to do."

Rolling his eyes at the man's antics, Harry swept further into the room and smiled. "Doctor," he nodded, glad that the man wasn't taking offense to the Billionaire's rudeness. "I must admit that I'm quite a fan of your work with nuclear particles, and the way you let lose in a big, green way. Excuse me if I don't offer my hand, I don't shake hands."

Blinking rapidly, Bruce stared at the man before him, before shaking himself out of the stupor and smiling softly. "No, no, that's fine. Um, thanks, it's nice to meet you too."

Nodding once more, Harry turned back to the other man and frowned. "I don't see why you're the one with their panties in a twist."

Twirling around, Tony pulled a screwdriver out of his pocket and pointed it at the shorter man. "You don't see-? I'm the one that came home to find it empty, and you're confused as to how my panties are in a twist?"

Snorting at the dubious look on Tony's face, Bruce blushed slightly when he noticed the pair were now facing him. "I-um," Bruce flustered, grabbing the pieces of paper closest to him. "I'll just go-"

"No." Pointing the screwdriver at what he hoped to be his new friend, Tony frowned. "You stay. He can go."

Not impressed by the man's childishness, Harry made to snatch the tool from the man in front of him, but was too slow. "Tony, we need to talk about this, and you acting like a child isn't going to help any."

"I'm acting like a child?"

The raised voices seemed to have attracted some attention and Bruce wasn't sure as to whether or not the pair had noticed. "Guys?"

"Yes, you!" Harry growled, his attention completely on the man before him. "Not that I'm surprised, you've always been so good at it."

"And you've always been a picture of model citizenship," Tony mocked back, not really paying attention to much else.

Motioning for the people outside the door to walk away, Bruce felt like face palming when instead, even more people, including the Steve, Natasha and Thor, showed up.

"At least I don't have to have a sleaze in my bed to go to sleep," Emerald eyes burned, feet inching closer to the other.

Feeling his face burn bright, with rage or embarrassment he wasn't sure, Tony stepped closer and snarled. "Well if I married you than what must that make you?"

"An idiot!" the shorter man snapped back instantly. "Especially if I thought the great Tony Stark would ever change."

Throwing his hands up in the air, Tony grabbed hold of the brunette and dragged him towards him, stopping only when they were chest to chest. Harry reached out and clenched his fingers around the man's Black Sabbath shirt. "I changed, it was you that left!"

"I left because you died!"

Out of all the people that were in the hall that day, no-one could tell who moved first. Gaping at the pair as they attempted to make themselves one, Bruce was about to cough politely, when suddenly, breaking apart, Harry pulled his arm back and-

BANG.

Staggering at the force behind the punch, Tony fell to the floor, holding his hand to his eye.

"Don't think that we're done Stark."

Glancing up at the dishevelled looking man through his one good eye, Tony smirked. "I count on it."


	5. Chapter 5

The news of the self-proclaimed genius playboy, Tony Stark, being married to a man soon became the biggest piece of gossip on the Helicarrier. Refraining from rolling his eyes as yet another group of personnel stood in the hall gossiping over the fact, Coulson made his way past without a word, his presence being more than enough to disband them. Making his way through the metal beast, the blonde counted each step, before coming to his destination.

Glaring at the door, as if everything that had transpired had been its fault, the blonde lifted his hand to knock, but changed his mind last second and pushed it open. Slightly surprised to see Steve as well as the man he was searching for, Coulson shook his head when the blonde asked if he wanted him to leave. Glancing down at the man that had yet to even acknowledge his presence, let alone sit up from his vertical position on the bed, Coulson felt a sudden urge to annoy the other-

"Hey!"

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Coulson retrieved the heavy files he dropped on the brunette's exposed underbelly, smirking all the while.

Ignoring the Blonde that was hiding in the corner, Harry rubbed his temples as he frowned at the agent. "What was that for?"

"Well for starters." Raising an eyebrow, Phil mentally palm faced himself, as he felt the Captain's gaze hit the back of his head. Maybe he should have asked the man to leave. "What was with the show in laboratory earlier?"

Turning away, Harry glanced down at the floor and sighed. "I honestly don't know. I wanted to talk about what happened, and Tony being his usual obnoxious self said no. I screamed, he yelled, and then next thing I know, he had his tongue so far down my throat, it was like it had never left."

Not sure what to say, Phil went to scrub his face with his hand, but halted when a small cough was heard in the corner Steve was standing in. Glancing over at the brunette, Coulson held back a chuckle at the sour lemon look on his face.

"Yes?" Harry snapped, ignoring the flash of warning that passed over his friend's face. "Was there something you wished to say Captain? Or is your tongue still defrosting and coughing speeds the process?"

Throwing down the wife-beater he had been in the process of folding, Steve turned his gaze to what he considered a teenager and growled. "You know what? I can only see what you and Stark see in each other, you're both as rude and obnoxious as the other."

Moving to stand, Harry sneered when he was forced back down by Coulson. "Why did you really bring me here Phil? I see already that this place has its quota of dicks-"

"That is enough, Mr Potter."

Tightening his hold on the wizard, Phil forced himself into a staring contest with the brunette, inwardly sighing when the other finally looked away. "Now," he spoke, keeping his voice at the ever calm level that everyone knew not to fuck with. "You will apologize to the Captain, and then you will go upstairs and talk, 'privately', with Mr Stark."

Shrugging off the arm holding onto him, Harry stood and made his way to the door. Stopping just in front of it, emerald eyes turned back to the super soldier, his face blank. "This isn't the 40's anymore Rogers. The world is cruel and hard, and if you wish to survive, then you must adapt. You have something inside of you that I haven't seen in a very long time. Don't let them taint that, but don't let it control your thoughts either."

Opening the door, Harry quietly left the room, and with it, a gaping Steve Rogers.

* * *

"Bruce, it's ok real- sssss, ow."

Holding back the chuckle he wanted to release at the man's whining, Bruce placed the cold pack gently on Tony's now purple eye; swatting away the hands that attempted to remove it. Satisfied when his disgruntled patient glared up at him, but moved to hold the cold pack there himself, Bruce moved around the table and sat down on his stool once more.

"You're going to have a real beauty," he smirked, lazily pointing at the man. "Exactly what did you do to piss him off that much- apart from kissing him, obviously."

Focusing all his will on setting fire to the smug bastard with his eyes, Tony gave up when he felt the strain turn into the start of a migraine. "I married him," he muttered, changing hands. "Apparently that was more than enough."

"That's another thing." Picking up the work they had left due to all the excitement, Bruce shuffled over to the computer he had been working on, and started typing in the codes. "I've been following your work for quite some time, and I don't think I've ever heard of 'The Great Tony Stark' being married."

Raising his only visible brow, Tony smirked widely. "You followed my work?"

"I give you a whole speech, and that's what you come back with?"

Standing, Tony stalked over to the duffle bag he had dropped in the corner the moment he had arrived, and began to rifle through it. "What can I say?"

Not paying attention to what the man was doing, Bruce shrugged. "What about how you met? Your life together? What happened to break you up?"

Stifling a noise of success, Tony hid his newly acquired object behind his back. "We met in Russia. I was doing my usual monkey dance for the government and he was there to assassinate the man that I was selling the products to."

Sending the genius a dubious glance, Bruce returned to the screen when he was waved off.

"The man's company was endorsing a war that Harry was against," he explained, slowly making his way towards the oblivious brunette. "My company had no idea, and when the man died, I may have received the company for half the price of what is was worth. Anyways, Harry caught my eye, which is rather interesting 'cause I normally don't go for men. I think it must have been the height-"

"Tony, you're rambling."

"Right!" Sneaking in closer, Tony mentally cackled. "So I perused, and to my utter belief, he said no! I was of course devastated,"

"Of course."

Getting into the story, Tony spun on the spot, and began to march back the way he came, his arm brandishing the metal rod he had acquired as if it were a sword. "Never let it be said that Tony Stark does not get what he wants in the end. It took three months, a terrible dinner with a foreign minister, and some rather promiscuous objects that I'd rather leave nameless; but I got there!"

Lowering the notebook, Bruce peeked up at the man and laughed. "So how did this lead to the biggest playboy getting married?"

Taking the cold pack away from his eye, Tony smiled, glad that he was the one to get the reserved man to laugh. "Well that was something different all together. We were together as a couple for two years by that point. He wasn't massive on the limelight, so we kept it pretty hush hush; any time I needed an escort I would call up one of the girls at work that I knew were married."

"So all the rumors about you sleeping with one third of the female population?"

"Bullshit. At least during the time I was with him."

"Ah."

Sitting back down, Tony glanced at the screen and nodded, it looked about right. "We married six months before I went to Afghanistan. Before I left we had made plans to go to take everyone to the Bahamas for Pepper's birthday, and when I came back, the house was sealed, JARVIS on shutdown mode, and Harry no-where to be found."

Bowing his head, Tony thought back to the memory of his husband not being there when he needed him most. That one single moment had almost broken him. If it hadn't been for the Iron Man suit, he probably would have drowned himself in liquor. Snapping back out of it, Tony lifted his head and smirked at the brunette.

"Forget all about that," Tony grinned hoping that his friend wouldn't be able to tell it was fake. "I want to know all about you."

Chuckling at the way Tony turned the awkward moment back onto him, Bruce went back to the problem at hand.

"You need to strut man."

"Last time I let loose, the Other Guy broke Harlem."

* * *

Steve had been on his way to talk to Stark. After the words Harry had imparted on him, the Captain had become confused and slightly worried. He knew that he had been gone for seventy years, but the world hadn't changed that much, had it? And if it had, then how was he suppose to lead them to battle?

Deciding that Stark would be the best person to talk to, Steve left Coulson to his business, before leaving the room himself to search out the Billionaire. It wasn't as though he wanted to take advice from the man that so often referred to him as 'Capsicle', but it wasn't as though he had much choice. Thor was as lost as he was when it came to the world, Natasha was, for lack of a better word, scary, and Steve planned on asking as little of her as possible until she warmed up a little bit. Fury, despite being a leader, was not the type to talk to the Blonde about his worries, if anything he would send him to Coulson, and after just upsetting what appeared to be his friend, Steve highly doubted he would want to talk to him, no matter how friendly he had seemed before. Harry was just no. Not after the last conversation they had just had.

So that had left two options; Stark or Banner. After watching the videos that came with everyone's files, and being told about how Banner's green monster was a result of trying to duplicate the serum given to him, Steve had silently vowed to not push the man too much. He wasn't afraid of the Hulk, he just knew that if roles were reversed, than he wouldn't want the 'perfect' version to be flaunted in front of his face every five seconds either.

Relaxing slightly when the man that he was after came into view, Steve made to open the door, when he heard Dr Banner speak.

_. "Exactly what did you do to piss him off that much- apart from kissing him, obviously."_

Clenching his hands into a fist, Steve struggled a moment before stepping away from the door. He had always been told by his mother that eavesdropping was bad manners, but he wanted to know what was going on, and there was no way Stark was going to talk in front of him.

* * *

Harry knew that he was being stupid.

Making his way through the mechanical mess, the dark haired wizard ignored the gossiping agents, glaring at them any time one got too close. Finding the exit, Harry breathed a sigh of relief, the feeling of being enclosed in a small space was not one he particularly liked, especially with so many people sharing it. Slamming the button that would grant his release, Harry smiled faintly as the sudden surge of wind made its way into the room, beckoning him to join it in its blissfulness.

Edging slowly out onto the abandoned runway, Harry let all the emotion of the day wash away. This is exactly where he needed to be, he knew as such. To let the world take on such a large foe and not fight, would have sat on Harry's shoulders for the rest of his very long life.

"Son of Potter!"

Blinking slowly, emerald eyes shifted slowly, widening when they found the mass of muscle that was the Norse god. Wind whipped through Blonde hair, causing the sunlight to dance along the strands.

"Thor, right?"

Nodding, Thor came to a stop beside the Midgardian, measuring him up. Harry was clearly the shortest of the group, coming so far as to Bruce's shoulders. He didn't appear to be physically powerful, nor did he seem to have any other trait that the Blonde could pick that would help them in battle. However, after the fight with Loki, Thor had come to understand that just because he could not see a person's strength, did not mean that they were in any way weak.

"I must admit," he spoke, moving his gaze to the sky. "When I first heard of your appearance, I was not entirely thrilled."

Scoffing, Harry crossed his arms. "It would seem that you weren't the only one."

"And then I saw you in battle." Glancing back down, Thor smiled widely. "You remind me of my good friend, Sif. She worked very hard to become an Agardian warrior; first woman to ever do so. I have fought many a good battle at her side, and I will continue to do so, do you wish to know why?"

Not saying a word, Harry turned to the god and stared.

"Because I trust her with my life."

"I have fought many battles, Thor. There is no honor in fighting beside a loved one, when you cannot protect them from the death that befalls them."

"Then perhaps you and I have a different view on the meaning."

"Perhaps."

"We may also have different understandings of the meaning of love?"

Glancing back at the stone faced blonde, Harry let his lip twitch slightly. "You wish to know what happened between me and Tony."

Keeping his face emotionless, Thor stared down at the man. "Only if you wish to do so. I have found recently, that talking about one's problems does help clear the mind."

Grinning at the round-about way the other answered, Harry tore his gaze away and returned it to the sky.

"We were married," He whispered, not quite sure if the blonde could hear him or not. "Still are, seeing as I never signed anything."

"Were you happy?"

"Blissfully." Looking down at the tar, emerald eyes glazed over, recalling the day he was told the news. "Tony went away for a conference in another country and was attacked on his way back. All the soldiers with him were killed and he was taken hostage. I never slept when he went away, so I was awake when the call came in that he was missing."

Feeling the warm hand on his shoulder, Harry went to shrug it off, but found he didn't have the strength to. "Pepper was amazing. She took care of the company and everything else, while I just fell apart. I kept trying to sneak over and find him myself, but after the third attempt, Pepper had Happy place my under house arrest, going so far as to move in and live on the couch."

"Tony seems to be fine, they must have found him?"

Shaking his head, Harry felt a single tear roll down his cheek, as the memory of that day ran through his head. "Some newbie in Intel got some information wrong. I was called two months after he was taken and told that the military had found him too late. I asked to see the body, but he told me that there was nothing left to see. I couldn't stand to live in a world without Tony, so I ran. It wasn't until I resurfaced six months later, that I saw an article on the news of Tony Stark, or Iron Man as he is now known as, holding some woman way too close to himself, that I even knew he was alive. He returned, and he never came looking for me!"

Pulling the distressed man into a hug, Thor hummed gently, "Perhaps his return to your home was as equally upsetting. To find you not there must have hurt."

Shuddering in the god's embrace, Harry composed himself once more.

"It no longer matters," he muttered, pulling away. "Tony has made it quite clear since then that he has moved on, and I can expect no less. We are here to save the world, nothing more"

Staring down at the man he knew held so much within, Thor huffed in defeat. "If that is the way you feel it must be, then very well."

Turning back to the sky, the wizard and the god stood side by side and watched the clouds float past in silence, each contemplating what was to come.


	6. Chapter 6

Natasha hated being out the loop.

As a trained assassin and later spy, the redhead had always prided herself on knowing every detail of a person's life, and how it would affect the mission she was charged with. So when she found out that Stark had a husband she didn't know of; despite working a whole year for the man, she was pissed.

Checking the file brought up on the screen, Natasha growled lowly. After retreating to her room some two hours before hand, the agent had set to work, finding out everything she could on one Harry Potter. The firewalls had been easy enough to crack, and after sending the IT men on a wild search to Cambodia, Natasha had finally located the file. Fifteen minutes later, and the encryption password was cracked, but after opening the folder, blue eyes had become frustrated. Glancing at the blank screen in front of her, Natasha sighed deeply, before closing it down.

Whatever information SHIELD had on the man was clearly not on the server, and if that was the case, she knew only two people would have it; Fury and Coulson. Running a hand through her hair, Natasha laid back on her bed, when a knock on her door signalled someone's presence. Knowing it was Coulson before she even answered, Natasha straightened back out and smiled softly. "Come in Phil."

Watching silently as the man made his way into the room, Natasha motioned for him to sit. "What brings you here?"

Smiling his usual easy going smile, Coulson looked over the young lady and relaxed. When Natasha had first joined SHIELD it had been under Coulson's insistence. Barton had brought her back, pleading for her pardon, and whilst the Council had been adamant that she be terminated, Coulson with Fury's blessing, had taken it upon himself to take her under his protection; just like he had with Barton. Since then the two agents, despite the lack of major age difference, had become like surrogate children to him. He would expect them to call in at least once week to check in, and in return, they would have a shoulder to lean on when they needed it.

Fiddling with one of the many files he had with him, Coulson picked up the top one and handed it over to the redhead. "I know how much you hate being in the dark," he murmured by way of explanation.

Taking the folder, Natasha smiled one of her rare, open smiles. "I'd ask how you knew, but that would be stupid."

Shaking his shoulders in silent mirth, Coulson went to stand, but stopped. "How are you? I haven't had a chance to talk to you since Clint-"

"I'm fine."

Refusing to look at the man she saw as a father figure, Natasha forced her poker face to stay on. Knowing that he wouldn't get much more out of her, Coulson bowed his head before standing.

"Director Fury would like you to talk with the prisoner first thing tomorrow. He believes that due to Loki's calmness, he may be up to something, and he wants to know what."

Nodding Natasha listened as the other walked out, waiting for the door to close before opening the file. Tomorrow was going to a long day, she could feel it.

* * *

Tuning out as the two men he had been he had been listening to turned to other topics, Steve leant against the wall and thought about everything he had just heard. The fact that men could marry in this day and age slightly surprised him, but he had never been against same sex relationships, so he wasn't overly fazed by it. No, it was the fact that the son of the biggest Lady's Man he knew; whom also appeared to bat for the ladies, was married to the man that had left him speechless, not once, but twice.

From what the Billionaire had recalled, Steve had been able to paint a picture of what happened between the pair, but he was positive it was only half finished. Deciding that the best thing for the team would be for the pair to work it out, Steve turned back to the door, determined to tell Tony just that, when he caught the brunette zap Bruce with a cattle prodder.

"Hey!"

Stalking his way into the room, Steve barely caught the Billionaire asking Bruce if his secret was mellow jazz or a big bag of weed.

"Is everything a joke to you?"

Frowning as the metal rod was pointed his way, Steve had a sudden urge to rip it out of his hand and use it on him. The only thing that stopped him was the glimpse of the beautiful shiner left behind by their shortest member.

"Only funny things are."

Rolling his eyes at the man's antics, Steve went through the usual speech about responsibility and how he could have endangered everyone on the creaking ship, when he noticed the slight flinch the doctor gave. He didn't mean to make it sound like that. Apologizing to the doc, Steve knew that he had hurt the other man's feelings, but he didn't know how to fix it.

"Wake up Rogers," Tony snarked, his eyes steeling over, making Steve wince. The blonde knew that the pair had become close over their time together, and no matter how much Steve didn't mean to, Tony wouldn't take well to him picking on the other man. "Fury is a spy. He is, like, the spy – even his secrets have secrets, and I will know them all once JARVIS has finished cracking the codes."

"You're breaking into SHIELD?"

Nodding, Tony glanced down at his phone like a proud father. "Have been since I hit the bridge."

Eyeing the man warily, Steve watched as he put the cattle prodder away, pulling a sliver bag out instead. "C'mon Cap, you can't tell me that you're not at least bit suspicious? Even Bruce has his doubts."

Glancing over at the man that was currently trying to avoid the topic, Steve frowned. "Bruce?"

Putting down the paperwork, Bruce sighed heavily before taking off his glasses. "C'mon Steve, you can't tell me you're not thinking the same? The stab that Loki made about 'a big warm light for the world'? I think that was aimed at Tony."

Pursing his lips as the philanthropist held out the silver bag in offer, Steve waited for the doctor to accept the blueberry and continue.

"I mean, if they really were using the Tesseract to find a self-sustaining energy source, why didn't they call Tony in on it?"

Despite the automatic denial he spat back, and the words after, Steve felt the small niggling doubt in his mind grow even further. Telling the pair to just find the Tesseract, the blonde made his way to the door, but turned back last second.

"You might want to talk to Harry," he threw back over his shoulder, not needing to see the man to know he was listening. "I don't think you know the whole story."

Leaving his dead friend's son to contemplate on those words, Steve left the room and made his way to the containment floor. He had some questions that needed answering.

* * *

Harry had never slept well. Even less when he was somewhere he didn't know. Opening his eyes slowly, the wizard took in the fact that his roommate was nowhere to be seen, before stretching languidly. Rolling over, long slender fingers made their way out of the soft, warm cocoon of the sheets, only to wrap around the clock he had placed nearby. Growling when he noticed that it was only five thirty, Harry placed the clock back down on the bedside table, before rising to a sitting position.

Going over the day before, emerald eyes vaguely recalled leaving Thor's presence sometime in the early hours to get some shuteye, as they sought out his steel capped boots that he had taken off before going to bed. The god had been good company, and his tales of battles past had let the wizard drift off to a world that was not his own for a while.

Tying the last lace, Harry stood slowly, and after retrieving his trusty trench coat and making sure his wand was in its holster, the brunette set off into the day, hoping that it would be better than the last.

* * *

It was obvious to everyone on the floor that the Director had not received a wink of sleep, not that any were willing to point it out. But Fury did not care.

Since he had lost his eye in battle, the man had been at peace with what it took to defend his country; and if that meant losing some sleep, then so be it. Chasing down his Right Lieutenant, Agent Hill, Fury paused for a moment and thought over what had happened the day before.

He was one of the few on the ship that had known Stark was married, and when he had called on Coulson to bring the man's husband in, he had hoped that the pair would at least have put their marital strain aside for the fate of humanity. Unfortunately, it seemed that the pair were doomed to cause him strife, just as much as Stark and Rogers did. Thinking back to the footage of Potter decking the showboat pony, Fury let himself a small smirk. At least if one thing came of having Potter on the ship, then at least he would keep the Billionaire in line.

Walking onto the bridge, Fury glanced around the room to make sure everyone was doing as they should, before striding to his place at the helm. Another thought that crossed his mind as Hill made her way to his side, was the fact that he never got the chance to tell the group of Potter's heredity. The footage he had shown them the day before had only shown Potter in hand to hand combat. As Director of SHIELD, Fury had been given clearance to know all about the secret 'Wizarding World', and as an act of faith, had repeated said findings to Hill and Coulson. It was later when the war in Brittan had come to its peak that he had realized how much of a threat the underground world could be.

Ordering Coulson to keep an eye on the problem, Fury had left it at that, knowing, but never really taking into account just how close Coulson got with the subject. Checking the screens on his left, Fury mused that maybe he should have expected it; after all, it wasn't the first time his Left Lieutenant had adopted a stray.

"Sir?"

Lifting his head away from the screen, Fury looked up at Hill and frowned.

"There's been evidence of someone hacking into the system."

And the day had started out so well.

* * *

"He plans to release the Hulk. Keep Banner in the Lab, I'm on my way. Have Thor meet me there."

Walking out of the containment room, Natasha almost skipped. She was one step closer to getting Clint back.

* * *

Not sure what to do with himself, Harry walked around aimlessly. Everyone seemed in full-go mode, and since no-one had yet to tell him what to do, he had opted to just stay out of the way until they did. Deciding to go and find something to eat, since he hadn't eaten since leaving his flat, the brunette made his way down the hall, scowling when the sound of raised voices reached his ears.

Following the sounds, he decided that he shouldn't be surprised when he found that they came from the lab Tony was working in. About to dismiss it as Bruce finally telling Tony to shut up or leave him alone, the wizard was just about to turn and walk away, when a single sentence made him pause.

"I was in Calcutta, trust me I was plenty removed."

Feeling the puckering between his eyebrows, Harry slowly made his way into the room, and silently stood by the door. The group continued on, unaware of the man's lingering stare.

"Why shouldn't he blow off a little steam?"

"You know damn well why. Back off!"

"We're not a team, we're a time bomb!"

"You know I'm starting to want you to make me."

"Put on the suit."

"You puny humans. You're so small, and weak."

"Doctor I think you should go-"

"Where? You rented out my room!"

"Take away the suit and what are you?"

"Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist."

"That was just a precaution."

"I've known men with none of that, that are worth ten of you!"

"What in case you needed to kill me? You can't, I tried."

Deciding to use the sudden lull the Doctor's words caused, Harry moved to the edge of the group.

"It's funny," he murmured, causing half the group to jump in surprise. "I've seen a group of trolls get along better than you lot."

Stepping lightly, emerald eyes made their way to the forlorn doctor, forcing him to look him in the eye.

"You and I have a lot to talk about after this," he promised, hoping that the man would believe him.

Turning his attention back to the group, Harry crossed his arms. "You brought us here to be a team," he stated, glancing at the Director. "I've been to hell, I know what it's like to lose loved ones, and I refuse to do so again. I came here to make a difference, not stand around yelling the ones I'm expected to work with. What you all need to do is ask yourself what you're willing to lose, because that's least of it if Loki wins."

Opening his mouth to continue, Harry was stopped by a loud beeping noise from one of the computers. Sending a quick apology to the wizard, Bruce made his way over to the screen. "It's found the Tesseract."

Bring up the location, chocolate brown eyes read over the content, before looking back up; his eyebrows pulled as closely together as possible.

"It's-"

BOOM.


	7. Chapter 7

The Helicarrier fell into chaos.

Racing off to find out exactly what happened, Fury went into full commander mode, barking orders through the com device he wore at all times. Watching as the man left, Harry quickly caught sight of Steve dragging Tony out of the room to get his suit, before kneeling down next to the hole that had appeared in the floor.

"Natasha? Bruce?"

Ignoring the god as he mumbled something about finding his brother, Harry waited for a reply, but didn't receive any. Standing, the wizard took one last look at the mess of steel and cables, before stepping off the ledge.

Keeping his back straight, emerald eyes waited for the impact. It only took less than a second for him to land beside the redhead; crouched down with one hand to the ground to absorb the shock of the impact, but glancing back up he realised that the fall must have been at least three floors. Standing slowly, Harry glanced over at the man that was trying desperately to calm down.

"Shit."

Ignoring the itch to pull his wand out, Harry turned back to the redhead and sighed. "We need to get you out here."

Send the shorter man a 'no-shit-Sherlock' look, Natasha struggled to free her leg, but gave up. "I can't move, the pole's pinning my leg."

Glancing at the pole, Harry knew that he wouldn't be able to move it by himself. Not without his magic. Shuddering as the sound of Bruce's torment filled the room, lithe fingers stretched outward, motioning for the pole to rise. Since he died, he had found most magic came to him easier if he used his own body to conduct it. It was only when he needed to place wards or do detailed transfiguration that he still needed his wand.

Not paying any attention to the man beside her, Natasha pulled her leg free. Stumbling away from the debris, blue eyes stared in horror as the gentle scientist she was beginning to like, transformed into a mass of green muscle.

Dropping his hold on the pole without a care, Harry strode over to the shocked woman and latched onto her shoulders, demanding her to look at him. "Run. I'll try to distract him."

Staring down into the man's emerald orbs, Natasha nodded quickly, before glancing back up at the green monster. Oh god, it was staring at them. Twirling around, red hair flicked around as she bolted down the corridor. Sliding across the floor, the assassin barely heard Harry's attempt at getting the beast's attention, before skidding to a halt behind a row of boilers.

Watching as the woman ran, Harry clicked his heels on the floor as he turned to face the man his husband admired greatly.

"Hello Bruce."

Roaring out in frustration, Hulk raised his arm to smash the small man, but stopped when the man didn't flinch. That wasn't right. People were scared of Hulk, they hurt Hulk. Even Betty was afraid of Hulk. Shaking his head, Hulk raised his arm higher, clenching his hand into a fist.

Keeping his face blank, Harry continued to stare up at the confused man. "I know how you feel."

Slamming his fist into the ground a foot away from the puny man, Hulk roared as loudly as he could, but was confused when the man didn't even flinch.

"I'm not afraid of you Hulk," Harry spoke over the man's furious huffs. "I'm not afraid of Bruce, so how can I be afraid if you? You are one in the same."

Tearing his eyes away from the little man, Hulk looked to left and noticed the pile of rubble left from the fall. Tiny man may not be afraid of Hulk, but red girl was. Roaring out, Hulk swatted the little man away with a massive sweep of his hand. Red girl would hurt Bruce, so Hulk would hurt her first.

Sitting up from where he had landed, Harry tried to get his breath back. He knew that talking the Hulk down was impossible, be he at least bought Natasha a few minutes to get away. Glancing down the corridor the Hulk went down, Harry slowly made to follow, when Coulson's voice came over the com Fury had demanded they all wear.

"_The containment cell has been breached. I'm on my way there."_

"Shit."

* * *

"I'm here Stark."

"Ok, let's look at what we've got."

Flying over to where the cooling system hooked up to the engine, Tony rambled off what needed to be done to get the thing back online, but barely paid attention to what he said. Instead, his thoughts went back to the feisty brunette he was married to. Pulling away some useless metal casing, Tony thought back to how happy they were, and how much Harry would have loved to have worked on the suit with him. It was one of the many things he loved about the man; he never stopped Tony from being his creative self. In fact, he had more often than not, been the one to encourage the man, and even help him when there was something that was a two man job.

"Ok Captain," he called out, getting back to the mission at hand. "Have a look at that switchboard and tell me which drives are in overdrive."

Blowing away some more debris, Tony was just about to let his mind wander back to the few good memories he had, when Steve's voice came back over the com.

"Well it seems to run on some form of electricity."

Rolling his eyes, Tony pushed through the disaster zone and sighed. "Yes, well, you get that."

* * *

Bolting down the corridor, emerald eyes, flashed when he caught sight of yet another block. The explosion seemed to have taken out more than just the engine, and if Harry was totally honest, he was surprised the thing was still relatively in one piece. Thinking briefly about how much Tony would complain later about shoddy engineering, Harry threw himself over the hand rail; only to land on the walkway below. Taking back off into a run, the wizard could almost shout in relief when he saw that the way was clear.

Skidding around the corner, Harry turned just in time to see Loki appear behind an oblivious Coulson.

"Nooo!"

Pounding his feet down on the metal floor, Harry skidded in to the room, just in time to grab a hold of the falling agent. Smirking down at the dying man, Loki strutted over to the control panel and pressed the button that would release the cage, and his brother within it.

Clutching on to the man that had become one of his closest friends and confidants, Harry watched as red began to soak through the white shirt under his hand. Heart beat racing, Harry placed a quick freezing charm on the man. He knew that there was a very good chance of his friend dying, but by placing the charm on him, he at least gave the medics a chance to get there and try.

"You are an interesting creature."

Pivoting slowly, Harry turned to face his friends would be killer, and snarled. A fire he had not felt since the war began to consume him, his emerald eyes flashing brightly under his fury. Gritting his teeth, Harry eyed the slimy man before him.

"I must admit," Loki smirked, watching the short human before him transform into a savage beast. "When I heard of another arriving, I did not think that it would be such a fine specimen as yourself. Especially not one that could do magic."

Growling lowly, Harry ignored the man's words, knowing that he was trying to bait him.

Frowning, Loki let his eyes rake over the man before sighing in an almost disappointed way. "Such a shame," he moaned, fingering his staff mockingly. "You would have made such a wonderful pet."

Lifting the staff, Loki took aim, but was too slow. Rushing at the man, Harry used his speed to his advantage. Blocking the staff with his left hand, the wizard swung his right around, connecting it with the smug god's nose. Staggering back at the sheer force, Loki quickly dodged the next three blows aimed at his chest, before twirling away to gain more space.

Following the god, Harry dropped as the sharp end of the staff swung its way towards his neck, bringing his leg out in a low kick as he did so. Hissing at the contact the steel capped boot made with his stomach, Loki sent a blast of energy at the nuisance, sneering when it did not land. Raising back into a fighting stance, emerald locked with silver, and snarled.

Lunging at the smaller man, Loki felt great satisfaction when blood fell from the spot on the other's shoulder. Pulling the staff back out with a sickening slurp, Loki spun back around and aimed another pulse of energy at the man; but paused when he noticed the energy growing in the other's palms.

Raising an eyebrow, Harry stared up at the god and growled. "Did you really think that you were the only one that could do that?"

Not waiting for the god to reply, Harry pushed the energy forward, blasting the god through the wall meters away. Slumping over, Harry stood panting for a moment. He knew that the god would run the moment he could stand, and after being hit by the Hulk and then stabbed by Loki, he wasn't quite ready to go after him. Breathing deeply as he felt his rib the Hulk broke, finally click back into place, Harry slid down the wall and turned to face the frozen man next to him.

Placing a hand over the other's chest, Harry slowly fed his magic through the open wound, healing as much of the damage as possible. Feeling the strain of his own healing on top of using such a powerful spell and then healing an almost dead man, Harry released the freeze charm when he saw the medic team arrive, before keeling over.

Tony was going to kill him.


	8. Chapter 8

"I've got a pulse."

"It's faint on this one."

"We need to get them to the medi-bay-"

"He's crashing!"

Watching from the shadows as the two men were wheeled away, Fury slammed his mask down. After finishing off the idiots that had attempted to take over his ship, the Director had made his way through the place to make sure everyone was ok and that certain areas were still secure. Calling out for an audio response on the special agents, he mentally ticked them off until there was one left.

"Does anyone have a visual on Coulson?"

The silence was answer enough. Crashing through the rubble and debris, Fury had made his way to the last spot the agent had been. The memory of finding not only Coulson; but Potter, lying on the floor with blood splattering them like a bad piece of art, was not one he would forget in a hurry.

Waiting for the emergency team to finish removing the bodies, Fury raised his hand and clicked on the com. "We have two men down. Anyone that is still on the ship is to report to the Bridge."

* * *

The words rang through his head like a bell.

"_-two men down-"_

Taking the hand offered to him, Tony reefed himself up and looked around. The area was a mess, and from the little he saw on his way out, Tony knew that the inside wasn't much better.

"C'mon," Steve muttered, patting him on the shoulder. "Fury wants us."

Nodding, Tony let the blonde lead him through the rubble, as his mind wandered. From the time they had been together, Tony knew that Harry wasn't one to stand by and let others fight. If he was, then Fury never would have called him in.

Stalking down the hall, he vaguely caught a glimpse of Natasha helping a soldier carry someone that he could only presume was Barton, into a room. His chest tightened. Picking up pace, the Billionaire unconsciously started up the boosters for flight, but was halted mid-motion.

"Not in here," Steve's voice drifted through his head, barely piercing the veil of fear that had only affected him once before. "There's not enough space and you might hurt someone."

Unable to get his tongue to respond, Tony whirled his head around to face the Captain, hoping to express his need to hurry to the man.

Looking right into the other's chocolate brown eyes, Steve felt a stab of white hot pain in his chest. The raw emotion he had found was heart breaking. Bowing his head, just so he no longer had to stare at the worry and fear the other was openly expressing, Steve tightened his hold on the red and gold armour. "Let's go find him."

* * *

The feeling was one of utter bliss.

It was like he was floating on a cloud in the middle of the ocean.

Growling at the sudden invasion of his peace by a bright light, the man moved to lift his hand to shield his eyes, but frowned when he found his arm unresponsive. Trying the other arm, the frown increased.

"_He's very lucky. If it had been an inch or two down-"_

"_I've never seen anything like this."_

Like what? Why couldn't he see anything? Attempting to open his eyes, the man felt like crying in frustration. Why couldn't he move?

"_It's healing far too quickly."_

"_Should we call the Director?"_

"_And tell him what? That we don't know what's going on?"_

Pleading for his eyes to open, the man felt a sudden wave of pain wash over him.

"_Sir he's waking up!"_

"_Quick, give him some more morphine! We don't know if he'll continue to heal like this if he wakes up."_

Listening to the voices floating in and out, the man tried one more time to move his arm, before the sounds and light began to dim.

"_What about the other?"_

"_He'll be awake soon, then we call the Director."_

Letting the wave of calmness wash over him, Coulson felt the last of the pain recede before he let the darkness reclaim him once more.

* * *

It took Steve what felt like an eternity to reach the Bridge. Every corner he took seemed to be either collapsed or heading the wrong way, and after stopping Tony from just flying off more than once, he was ready to just sit there and wait for Fury to send someone to get them.

Not quite liking this idea, Tony had detached the soldier from his armour, and focused his pulsar beams at the most recent block they came across. Firing his way through, the Billionaire ignored the startled agents on the other side, and walked through. Following the determined man, Steve tried to apologise for the suddenness of their appearance, but decided to just keep walking when he noticed that they weren't really paying any attention, and Tony was already down the hall, blowing away the next obstacle.

Eyeing the metal suit next to him, Steve walked onto the Bridge and sat down. The lack of anyone besides themselves and the Director stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Where is everyone?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the brunette, in case he suddenly charged at the Director.

"Currently unavailable."

* * *

The moment they walked through the doors and onto the Bridge, Tony felt like someone had reefed his arc reactor out and replaced it with a block of ice. Not having the energy to even drag himself to the chair, the brunette stood in the middle of the room, staring off into space.

When the message had come over the com that two men were down, he had known that there was a high chance Harry was one of them. Bruce and Thor were obviously taken out of the equation, and unless they were high up, Tony knew that Fury wouldn't have announced it over the private com only. So that had left a small hand full of people, and after seeing Natasha, the list had dwindled. Coming back to his body, Tony ignored the feeling of deep depression setting in, and focused on the two men before him.

"Where is he?"

Silencing, the pair looked up at the Iron man with a sense of pity. Glad that he still had his helmet on so he didn't cop the full force of their pity, Tony repeated his question.

Slumping slightly, Fury rubbed his forehead. "He was trying to stop Loki-"

"Where is Harry?"

"Coulson got there before him and was run through the chest. He tried to save him-"

Drowning under the pressure of the Director's words, Tony lifted his arms, and brought them down on the table, shattering the glass.

"WHERE IS MY HUSBAND?"

Metal shook under the user's worry. Chest plates shifting with the rise and fall of each breath. Casting a look at the silent room, Tony ignored the looks of shock, focusing instead on the feeling of defeat and loneliness.

He had always held out a small sliver of hope that Harry would one day return to him, but now...

Dusting his jacket off, Fury eyed the broken man hiding in his metal shell, and pursed his lips. Perhaps he didn't know Stark as well as he thought he did.

"He was taken to the medical bay."


	9. Chapter 9

It didn't take the pair nearly as long to get to the medical bay as it did the Bridge. Letting go of the man he had been mostly carrying, Steve placed a hand on the door and looked in. Two beds were occupied; from what he could see, with four SHIELD personnel floating around them. He had heard when Fury had labelled Coulson as the other man, but he had not fully realised it until he saw the man laying there. Ripping his gaze away from the window, Steve turned back to the motionless robot and frowned.

"Tony?" he muttered, as though speaking any louder would cause the place to crumble. "You need to take the helmet off."

Shaking his head, Tony forced his way past the blonde and into the room. His suit was more than armour, it was his shield from the world; his way to hide from the pain. To take it off would be like exposing his soul to the very pain he was hiding from.

Clucking his way through the bay, Tony ignored the gapping medical staff and geaded to the occupied beds. The pale figure of Coulson was the first he came across. Lying under the sheet with wires and tubes running off him left, right and centre, the man looked like he was five seconds off death. Tearing his eyes away, Tony turned instead to the white curtain separating the beds. Swallowing back the sob that threatened to choke him, Tony lifted his red and gold clad arm, and ever so gently pushed the curtain aside. The sight that came through the helmet's information was one of earth shattering beauty.

Pale skin stood out against the light blue of the sheets, arms laid just on top. Dark brown hair standing at all ends defiant to gravity, even in death. Even the cords that seemed to connect to every point of the wizard's body made the picture all that more beautiful.

His knees trembled beneath him. Unable to stand any longer, Tony dropped to the floor; his hand still clutching the curtain even as it ripped off the railings.

He was so close. After two years of wondering, he had walked back into his life; but he being the stupid idiot that was, had turned his back on him...

...and now he was gone.

Needing to feel the other's skin on his one last time, Tony ignored the tear covered cheeks he knew he held, and removed the helmet. Leaving it beside the torn curtain, the broken shell that was Tony Stark, shuffled toward the bed. Clawing at the sheets, metal fingers finally latched onto soft flesh, and oh so carefully, lifted it to his face.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured, smearing his lips along the back of the other's hand, not noticing the warmth. "I love you."

* * *

"-We don't know how it's possible."

After following the shattered widow into the room, Steve had felt a stab of grief for the man, before being pulled to the side by two rather nervous looking doctors. Listening to what they had to say, the soldier felt his grief turn into shock.

"Are you sure?"

Nodding, the two men followed the blonde's glance over to where the metal clad Stark was trying to stand. "He should be awakening wound has healed over completely, and, for all intents and purposes, is would seem like that man was never stabbed."

Bowing his head in thanks, Steve walked over to the occupied bed, just in time to stop Tony from trying to climb onto it.

"Hey!"

Pulling the distraught man back, Steve dodged an arm to the face.

"I can't-"

Turning the wailing brunette around to face him, Steve grabbed a hold of his face and forced him to look at him. "He's not dead! Tony! He's going to be fine!"

Letting go of the tear stained cheeks, Steve felt his shoulders sag in relief when the Billionaire stopped fighting and absorbed what he was saying.

"He- he's not-?"

"No. The doc just told me that he's going to be fine. They both are."

Watching as the light in Stark's eye slowly flickered back to life, Steve breathed in deeply.

"He's going to be ok, he's-"

Reacting quickly, the blonde couldn't help but laugh as he was dragged down to the floor with the shocked Billionaire and his overweight suit.

* * *

The one thing Harry had always hated about being a wizard, was the fact that muggle medicine didn't work on him. The alcohol base found in most medicines burned the moment it came into contact with magic, and the rest pretty much became a food source for it, leaving him with a headache and the remnants of a sugar rush. It was this feeling he was met with, as he found his way back to the living.

Groaning at the sudden influx of light, Harry moved to cover his eyes with a hand, but was stopped mid way.

"Harry?"

Frowning at the sound, emerald eyes attempted to open, but were assaulted by the light once more.

"Hold on."

Sighing happily as the lights were dimmed to a more reasonable brightness, Harry blinked the sleep away and took in the room. It was like any other hospital he had been to; white walls, bright lights, and the distinct smell of bleach covering everything.

Sitting up slowly, Harry went to chuck his legs over the side of the bed, but stopped when a red metal hand placed itself on his chest.

"You really shouldn't be moving."

Following the hand up, emerald eyes took in every detail, until finally, they came to the tear stained face of Tony Stark. Not sure what was going on, Harry eyed the man that was looking like he was staring at a ghost.

"Tony-?"

Baffled, Harry sat limp, as the genius swept down on him and stole his breath away.

"If you ever," Tony growled, pulling away. "Do that to me again, I will chain you to the bed and never let you go."

Moaning into another kiss, Harry grabbed onto any crevice of the suit he could find, and held on tightly.

* * *

After being told that his love would be fine, Tony had taken vigil beside his bed. Steve had stuck around long enough to make sure that the brunette was ok, and to figure out where Loki could have gone, before taking off to find Natasha and Barton.

"We're going after Loki."

"Who's we?"

"Anyone who's left."

About to walk out of the room and leave the pair to get ready, Steve paused at the doorway when Natasha called out.

"I heard Fury. Who was it?"

Glancing over his shoulder, Steve took in the worry on the normally stoic agent's face. Running a hand through his hair, the blonde turned back around and sighed. "Coulson and Potter."

Gasping, Natasha brought a hand to her mouth, tears welling in her eyes. Not sure if it was right to comfort her, Steve took a step forward anyway, but stopped when Barton came up behind her and placed both hands on her shoulders.

"Harry should be coming around soon," he continued, hoping that the good news would help. "Stark's with him at the moment. The doctor's said that Coulson will be fully healed in a day or so, but they have him under a drug induced sleep until then."

Heaving out a sigh of relief, Barton thanked the blonde for the news, as he wrapped Natasha into a tight hug. Knowing that he was no longer needed, Steve bowed his head in acceptance, before pivoting on the spot and marching out.

They had a battle to prepare for.

* * *

It was like milk and honey.

Or least that was what Tony had always compared Harry's kisses to.

Pushing his tongue further into the mewling man beneath him, Tony was just about to shift his mouth to that incredibly sensitive spot on the other's neck, when his com device activated.

"_Tony?"_ Steve's voice rang through. _"We're ready when you are."_

Growling at the interruption, Tony went to ignore the Captsicle, but was halted by the glowing green eyes beneath him.

"What's going on?"

"_Tony I know you can hear me." _

Damn it. "Cap, I'll be there in a minute. Get the jet ready."

Clicking the com off, Tony glanced back at his partner and pouted. Well there went happy hour.

"What's going on Tony?"

How did he say this without his husband going off the nut?

"Loki escaped, and is all set to skitch his army on New York, so me, Cap, and Natasha are going to go stop him. Kiss for luck?"

Harry was not impressed.

Pushing the wannabe cyborg off the edge of the bed, Harry quickly followed suit and walked over to where his clothes waited on a chair. "I'm coming with you."

Sputtering, Tony waved his hands around like a chicken. "No you're not."

"Yes I am."

Looking around widely for an excuse, Tony glanced behind him at the doctors in the hall and smirked. "No you're not, you haven't been cleared by a doctor, so all in all, you can't leave."

Rolling his eyes, Harry chuckled. "Says the man that was ten seconds off having sex with me, metal suit or no?"

"That's different."

Buttoning his pants, Harry tilted his head up, and sighed. "I have to do this Tony."

"No you don't. You need to stay here, where it's safe, and-"

Pushing himself up onto his tiptoes, Harry dragged the metal man down and melded their lips together. It was nothing like the ones they shared before. It wasn't sexual, but full of love and understanding. Harry poured every ounce of feeling he had for the man into that one moment. Letting go, but not moving away, Harry opened his eyes and stared right into the very heart of Tony Stark.

"When you married me," he whispered, not looking away. "You knew what I was. You knew everything about me, and accepted me for who I am, just like I did you."

Tightening his hold on the other's waist, Tony leant forward so he could place their foreheads together. "I just got you back," he breathed. "I don't want to lose you again. You just got stabbed!"

Rubbing the tip of his nose against the Billionaire's, Harry smiled. "I know."

Standing there, in the middle of the medical ward, the pair let the whole world slip away. Slowly swaying to a beat neither could hear, the two men let everything else go, and just lived in that one moment. Mentally reminding himself to remind Tony of his disability with death later, Harry breathed in and let the loneliness of the past two years wash away.

"I want you to promise me," Tony mumbled, gently moving his hips from left to right. "That you won't run away again. No matter what."

Locking eyes with the only person he could ever love, Harry felt his heart stop. The supposed death of Tony had nearly killed him; he couldn't imagine what Tony felt like when he returned from being kidnapped to find Harry gone.

Leaning up for one last kiss, Harry nodded. "I promise."


	10. Chapter 10

The jet was up and running by the time the pair were ready to go.

Slapping the metal hand away from his waist for what felt like the umpteenth time, Harry made his way out onto the runway and towards the trio watching them.

"It's about time!" the blonde next to Natasha yelled out, the igh winds making it difficult to hear anything. "What took you so long?"

Coming to a stop in front of the others, Harry rolled his eyes as he felt the mechanical arm sneak its way around his body once more.

"Harry had to dress," Tony's voice rang out, a smug grin threatening to slipt his face in half.

Pushing the taller man away, Harry pointed his finger at him in warning, before turning back to the blonde and smiling.

"It's good to see you with us, Clint."

"Clint?"

Grinning back, Clint stepped forward and embraced the wizard. "It's good to see you too Harry. It's been way too long."

"Since when has he been Clint?"

Disregarding the confused and slightly jealous genius, Steve waited for the friends to let go, before addressing the group as a whole. "We need a plan of attack, and Tony if you say that the plan is attack, I swear I'm going to hit you over the head with my shield."

Motioning a locking movement with his fingers, Tony fluttered his eyes at the Captain and beamed. Wishing that he was tall enough to wack the brunette over the head, Harry fell back into soldier mode, allowing his mask to fall back into place.

"Do we know where Loki and the Tesseract are?" he asked, the last pieces of his emotionless mask falling into place.

Disturbed but not surprised by the sudden change, Steve nodded. "Tony's theory is that Loki took the show to Stark Tower."

"Then that's where we go. How are we going to draw him out?"

"I'll go in," Tony exclaimed, holding his hands up as the rest looked at him like he was crazy or trying to show off. "No-one knows my tower like I do! I can talk my way out of anything; and apart from Harry, I'm the only one here that doesn't have to take the elevator. Besides that, my suit's running on twenty percent, and even if it was just Loki we were facing, I'd rather have a fresh change thank you."

Nodding at the suggestion, Steve pointed at the metal man and glared. "You fly to the Tower and see what you can do to stop the Tesseract. If that doesn't work, smoke out Loki. We'll follow you in the quinjet, Romanoff, you're on guns. I'll call in Thor on the way, he can meet us there."

Bowing their heads in agreement, the group one by one, moved into action. Grabbing Harry's arm just as he moved to board the jet, Tony spun him around and lifted his face plate.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, knowing that the other wouldn't have changed his mind, despite how much he wanted him to. "You could stay here and run the ship for Fury."

Letting his mask fade for a second, Harry laughed lightly at the suggestion. "I'm going Tony. Someone needs to keep an eye on your arse."

"And what an arse it is." Smiling down at the chuckling man, Tony sobered. "Kiss for luck?"

Leaning up, Harry placed a soft peck on his husband's lips. "You don't need it."

* * *

"So, you and Stark? You didn't tell me about that last time we talked."

Leaning against the quinjet's wall, Harry watched the archer as he smoothly piloted the bulky machine across the sky.

"Last we talked, I thought he was dead," he shrugged, not wanting to dwell on the fact.

Knowing the other man well enough to know that he didn't want to talk about it, Clint turned to the redhead beside him and grinned. "I never introduced you two did I?" he threw back over his shoulder. "Nat, this is Harry, Harry, Nat."

"We've met, Barton."

Shrugging his shoulders, Clint threw a smug grin at the redhead. "I was out of commission. I can't be expected to know these things."

Rolling her eyes at the archer, Natasha flicked a few switches before turning to face the brunette hanging over their shoulders. "How did you do it?"

Raising an eyebrow, Harry tilted his head. "Do what? A lot's happened in the last twenty four hours, you're going to have to be a bit more specific."

"How did you save Coulson?"

The jet fell into a tense and uncomfortable silence. Noticing Steve place the map of New York he had been studying, down, Harry slowly slid onto the chair behind him and folded his arms.

"What makes you think I saved him?"

Scoffing, Natasha shifted around so she could see the man behind her. "Many things," she admitted, picking at a piece of lint on the seat. "Fury wouldn't have called you in unless there was something special about you, and when I was pinned under that pole, there was no way you could have moved it by yourself. From the way Coulson acted around you, I could tell that you two were close, and if I was there and could do something about it, then I would have."

"_Is that way you got stabbed?" _

Frowning at the tinny voice coming through the qunjet's speakers, Harry moved to straighten his back out. "Tony, don't you have something to be doing?"

"_I'm nearly there,"_ Tony's voice echoed. _"And don't change the subject. Did you nearly die because you were playing hero again?"_

"I wasn't playing hero," Harry sighed. "Coulson went after Loki, and I followed for back up. It was the same thing that anyone else here would have done."

"_You nearly died! That's it, Romanoff cuff him to the seat, he doesn't leave that jet till we're finished."_

"Tony-" The warning was clear in his voice, and if Clint's shudder was anything to go by, than it was one to heed.

"_No."_ Tony's stubbornness shinning through. _"Just because you're a wizard doesn't mean that you get to throw yourself into the thick of things the moment danger raises its ugly head."_

Harry could have happily decked his husband in that moment. Ignoring the noise that was still coming out of the speakers, Harry glanced over at the shell shocked Captain and less surprised, more satisfied, assassin.

"I thought Fury told you," he muttered honestly, his husband's voice finally dying down.

"So what?" Steve queried, retrieving his jaw from the floor. "You make things disappear and stuff like that? Like a street performer?"

"There's a bit more to it than that Cap."

Turning to face the assassin, Harry eyed her with suspicion. Raising an eye brow in return, Natasha shrugged.

"Coulson gave me your file last night," she admitted, turning back around to the control panel. "I just wanted to hear you say it."

"I knew before anyone," Clint spoke up, lifting his arm like he was in a classroom, waiting to be called on for an answer. "Even Coulson."

"You walked in on me in the shower," Harry answered, relaxing back into his chair, now that the tension had eased off a bit. "The only reason you knew first was because you got blasted into the wall by it."

"_Man that's ba- wait, he saw you naked!"_

Chuckling at the man's indignant shout, Harry sent a small smile to the still somewhat confused Blonde sitting across from him, before closing his eyes. They weren't too far out, and if he listened to his instincts, then they would tell him to rest while he could, cause when they landed, all hell was going to break loose.

* * *

Tony was the first to arrive on the scene.

Eyeing the pain in the arse machinery that did** not **have clearance to be on **his** rooftop, Tony knew before he even lifted his hand that the repulser wasn't going to do a thing. Stabilizing himself once more, Tony caught sight of the cause of all this and growled. The dick was the reason he had nearly lost the one person he would rip the world apart for, and like hell he wasn't going to get his pound of flesh in repayment.

"_Tony,"_ Harry's voice echoed, filled with determination and a hint of worry. _"Don't go doing anything stupid. Our main priority is to stop the Tesseract. Tony?" _

Paying no attention to the voice, Tony kept his eyes on the green clad god, even as he stepped onto the landing pad and the iron suit was disassembled.

"Are you planning on surrendering?"

The haughty tone rang through the open space like a gong. Stifling the crawling sensation he felt go along his skin, Tony placed his customary 'eat-shit' grin on his face and made his way to the bar.

"Actually I plan on threatening you."

Scoffing at the idea, Loki used the staff to point at the ledge he had just come from. "You should have left your suit on for that."

"Perhaps." Making his way around the marble counter, Tony felt a spark of happiness when he found two copper bracelets exactly where he had left them. "Would you like a drink? I'm going to have a drink."

Turning around to check his liquor supply, the genius barely contained the rage he felt against the god, his hands shaking even as he picked up a crystal decanter with an auburn liquid inside. Whiskey?

"You have already lost," Loki spoke, his giddiness radiating. "You are defenceless. Nothing can stop me."

"Perhaps. Or maybe the Avengers," Taking a quick swig of the liquid; yep defiantly whisky, Tony glanced up and almost chuckled at the look of confusion on the serpent. "Oh, that's what we call ourselves. Earth's mightiest heroes, and all that jazz."

"Yes, I have met them."

"I will admit, we have a little trouble with traction in the beginning," Tony nodded in agreement, placing his glass down on the counter and using the same movement to pick up the bracelets. "But think about it. We have a man with breath taking anger management issues, you're brother; a Norse god of thunder, a legend that actually lives up to the legend, two highly trained assassins, and you, have managed to piss off every single one of them."

"I have an army!"

"We have a Hulk!"

Stepping around the bar, Tony slowly made his way down to the fuming god, and got as far into his face as possible. Let it never be said Tony Stark didn't take pleasure in pissing people off. "Don't you get it? There is no version of this that you come out on top. There is no crown, no throne. You can try, but I'll tell you, even if we don't save the world, you can be damn sure we'll avenge it!"

The possibility of the furious god throwing him out of the window was one that had passed through his mind, but not one he had overly enjoyed. So when he found himself falling through the air with a million shards of glass, Tony mentally thanked whoever looked out for him, when he felt the Mark VII wind its way around his body.

Slamming on the thrusters just as the pavement got a little too close for comfort, Tony shot back up into the sky and towards the blue light now pulsing above his tower. Watching as the very fabric of time and space tore in the atmosphere above him, Tony could only think of one thing.

"Army, right."

* * *

Watching thru the window as New York came into view, Harry fiddled around with the com device in his ear and sighed. The lack of power in his suit had caused Tony to hurry ahead of them due to the off chance of suddenly falling out of the sky.

The fact that the last they had heard of the Billionaire was him muttering something about plan B, was not overly comforting. Stomping down the itch to just apparate to the building and see what was going on, Harry jumped unnoticeably when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I just got word from Thor," Steve announced from the wizard's side, causing him to flinch slightly. "He is just about to arrive at the tower. He said that the Tesseract had already activated and Iron Man is currently engaging the aliens."

Nodding, Natasha flicked more switches as they came up to where the skyscrapers became higher, and flying became more difficult. "So what are we doing?"

Eyeing the scene ahead, Steve took a second to think, before pulling his mask on and grabbing his shield from the seat he had placed it on earlier. "We're aiming for Stark Tower."

Bowing his head slightly, Clint turned a corner just as Natasha clicked on her com device. "Tony? We're here."

_"What took you so long? Did you stop in at a drive thru on the way?"_

It was testimony to how serious the moment was, that no-one did as much as roll their eyes at the remark; despite how tempted Clint was to reply.

"_Ok,"_ Tony's voice huffed. _"Where are you?"_

"Corner of Fifth."

_"Alright, pull up along Broadway, I'll line them up for you."_

Almost taking a building out by the suddenness of the turn, Clint sped down the street. Natasha clicked a couple more buttons and switches, before grabbing the joystick between her legs. Watching all of this in slight fascination, Harry noticed that they were almost at the end of the road, when a flash of red and gold sped past their nose, followed by a hoard of flying creatures.

Firing upon the waxy looking creatures, Natasha sneered at the lack of avoiding on their part, halting any further firing as they tilted upward to avoid the nearest building. Following the Iron Man back around, Clint steered the metal beast around the city centre till they made it to Stark Tower.

"Nat?"

"I see him."

Whirling the machine gun around to face the two Asgardians fighting upon the roof, Natasha took aim at the silver tongued serpent and fired.


	11. Chapter 11

No-one could say that they were surprised when the Asgardian fired a bolt of energy at the right wing.

Picking himself up from where he had landed on the floor, Harry checked that his wand was still in its holster, before following the others out of the grounded jet. Dust and rubble chocked the air as the Chitari swarmed the sky and ground; shooting anything that so much as quivered. Grounding his teeth at the sight, Harry moved to go after the bastards, but was stopped by a red clad hand.

"We need to get them out of here," he stated, unable to tear his eyes away from the people screaming in pain and fear.

Nodding, Steve also took in the scene before them, his eyes hardening at the sight. "They're like fish in barrel."

Turning to face the other two, Harry felt the words die in his throat, when he caught the Chitari advancing behind them.

"It's alright," Natasha assured, her hands already reaching for the guns she had strapped to her waist. Clint already firing arrows off like no tomorrow. "Go, we've got this covered."

Not needing to be told twice, Harry whirled around and jumped off the side of the bridge, Steve not too far behind.

"What do you have planned?" Steve huffed, his landing less graceful than the wizards.

"I'll distract the majority," Harry yelled back, pooling his magic into his hands eve as they ran. "You get the civ's out, take out any I miss."

Not getting a chance to answer, Steve dodged just in time for an energy blast to go over his head. Knowing that the other man would be fine, Harry sent a blast of his own back at the creature, before engaging another in hand to hand combat.

The sudden clarity that came with the fight was one that the emerald eyed man was not unfamiliar with. Every possible scenario flew at him a million miles a second; where his opponent was about to step next, what was happening behind him, where to place his next movement. The war had done more to him than anyone realised, and it wasn't until he was out on yet another battlefield that anyone noticed.

Using the creature's own momentum against itself, Harry swung it face first into a building and snarled. Grabbing it's head in his hands; emerald eyes watched with a small amount of satisfaction, as they twisted swiftly.

The civilians that had been trapped where rapidly making their way to the tunnels, and after talking to the police, Steve had been able to set up a perimeter. Suddenly noticing the lack of aliens on the ground, blue eyes flashed in relief when they caught sight of Natasha and Clint walking towards him.

"Where's Harry?"

Following Clint's finger, Steve turned around just in time to catch the small wizard decapitate a Chitari with its own blade. Whirling back around to face the trained assassins, Steve pointed his thumb over his shoulder and frowned.

"Why was Tony worried about him again?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Clint opened his mouth to answer, but was blocked when an animalistic roar rang through the city. Raising their heads to face the portal as one, Steve, Natasha and Clint gaped as a horrible beast lowered itself into their world, and thus, into their city.

* * *

"_Tony are you seeing this?"_

Seeing it? What kind of stupid question was that?

Hovering in mid air, Tony gaped in awe as he watched the armoured space whale crash into buildings, unloading Chitari warriors as its wake. Shaking himself out of his stupor, the genius sped after the creature.

"Seeing, still working on believing," he muttered, hoping that no-one would pick up on the minute of silence between the question and his answer. "Has Banner showed up yet?"

"_Bruce? No, why?"_

Not wanting to explain his theory to Captain America of all people, Tony exhaled loudly. "Don't worry, just tell me if he shows up."

Getting a word of agreement, Tony was just about to boost his thrusters, when Steve's voice came back over the com device.

"_Um- Tony?"_

"Yes Cap?"

"_Is Harry usually a violent person?"_

Halting once more in his pursuit of the living cargo ship, Tony was almost blasted by a passing chariot, but dodged just in time. Aiming his own blaster at the alien, Tony grinned evilly as it took the hit and plummeted to the ground.

"Not usually," he gritted, aiming more shots into the sky. "He actually saved a kid's kitten from a tree once. I'm surprised you two don't get along actually, but at the same time, I probably wouldn't be married to him. Why, what's up?"

"_He's just showing some reall-"_

The sound of gun shots and scuffling came over the com, making Tony wonder if he should go down and make sure they were ok.

"Steve? Yo, Cap?"

"_Yeah."_ Steve's voice called back, his breathing slightly out. _"We're fine, just som-"_

"_Captain! Stop gossiping with my husband and start paying attention. I won't save your arse a second time."_

Raising an eyebrow at Harry's interruption, Tony sent another blast at a passing chariot. "I think you better listen to him Cap," he muttered, speeding across the sky in an attempt to get ahead of the massive creature. "I'm going to try and get the attention of the flying car pool service."

* * *

The arrival of the space jumbo meant only one thing to Harry.

More fucking aliens.

Jumping off the car he had rolled onto, the wizard spun mid air, grabbing the grey arm about to latch onto him, and reefed it down. Getting his feet in under the alien in the same movement, he kicked out, forcing the creature off it legs and flailing into the air. Sending a quick stunner along with it, green eyes flashed around just in time to catch the next three sneaking up from behind.

"Bombarda!"

Not even stopping to see the bastards blow up, Harry picked up an abandoned gun and fired at the next idiot that came near him.

"ROAR!"

"Tony, are you seeing this?"

"Seeing, still working on believing."

Rolling his eyes at the chit chat, Harry jumped on top of a soldier just in time to stop it from attacking a young lady that was stuck in the rubble. Sending a shot of magic straight through to the alien's brain, Harry made quick work of frying it. Leaping off the dead body, green eyes scanned the frightened lady for any major wounds. Not finding any, he quickly ordered her to head to the nearest subway, before turning back to see how his teammates were handling themselves considering the sudden increase in talk over the com. Turning just in time to see a small hoard of Chitari creep up behind the still stunned Captain.

Racing across the road, Harry stepped on a popped hubcap, sliding the rest of the way. Stopping just behind the blonde, Harry waved his hand in an in a sweeping motion, freezing the enemy in their path. Standing up, the wizard grabbed a hold of the other man and spun him around. Using the momentum, Steve swung his arm out; his shield colliding with the only alien that hadn't been frozen.

"_Steve? Yo, Cap?"_

Knowing that the Captain was fine, Harry ran off to the next spot teaming with aliens. Waving his arms in front of him, he knocked out yet another soldier as the blonde answered.

"_Yeah. We're fine, just som-"_

"Captain!" He snarled, finally having enough of the conversation. "Stop gossiping with my husband and start paying attention. I won't save your arse a second time."

Ignoring the sputtering man, Harry pushed a shard of metal into surprisingly soft flesh, when a new sound made its way onto the battle field.

* * *

Steve couldn't help the red that stained his cheeks.

He had served in world war two, single handily saved a platoon of men from imprisonment; and yet he had let his guard down and nearly got jumped on by the grey things. And then to top it off, he was chewed out by a man that was half his height, and married to the biggest dick he could think of. Chasing the brunette down the street, Steve lifted his shield in preparation of the oncoming battle, but lowered a second later.

What he had seen in the film was not a lie; Harry Potter was a true warrior.

Watching as the seemingly average looking man took down creatures much taller and stronger than himself just by reversing the force of the attack back onto them, Steve was just about to turn around and find the next lot of aliens to take down, when the sound of a motorcycle engine caught his attention.

* * *

Bruce wasn't sure what to think of himself anymore.

Ever since the accident, he had ran from everything; his friends, his life, Betty. All of it was safe as long as he stayed as far away as possible. And for a long time he had, he flew half way around the world, just to learn control, and then the rest of the way to keep them safe.

He had never stopped moving. Living in some of the most desolate places just so if he did have an issue and the 'Other Guy' appeared, than he wouldn't hurt anyone. But then Natasha had shown up; and he knew he had no choice but to follow.

The cage was to be expected, he couldn't ask for anything else from a government facility; especially SHIELD. When he had been escorted to the lab, he had hidden himself away, hoping that if he made himself as small as possible, than they would just let him find the Tesseract and leave...

...but that was until he met Tony Stark.

The man was like a 1000 watt light, drawing everyone to him like moths, whether they wanted to be or not. And oh, how Bruce wanted to. Tony treated him in way that he had never been treated before; not even by Betty. The genius was a kindred spirit, and damn if Bruce wanted to leave that.

Glancing through his eyelashes up at the elderly man that had given him clothes, Bruce scratched the back of his neck.

"You wouldn't have a vehicle I could borrow, would you?"


	12. Chapter 12

_Glancing through his eyelashes up at the elderly man that had given him clothes, Bruce scratched the back of his neck._

_"You wouldn't have a vehicle I could borrow, would you?"_

The arrival of Bruce Banner was met with surprise and confusion by most of the team. Letting go of the metal supporting the Chitari, emerald eyes watched in mild interest as it sank to the ground, gasping desperately for air to refill its collapsed lung. Glancing around for any further danger, Harry slowly stalked his way over to the already assembled group.

"Looks bad," Bruce spoke, his eyes spinning around in their sockets.

Natasha shrugged, eyeing the man like he was about to flip out and attack them. "I've seen worse."

Feeling the sudden need to clip the woman up the back of the head, Harry stomped it down just in time. Missing the look of confusion Clint and Steve wore, Harry focused back on the skittish scientist just in time to catch the look of pain and loneliness flash across his face; before it was washed away and replaced with one of amusement and regret.

"I'm sorry about that-"

"No, no," taking a deep breath, Natasha forced herself to look the man in the eye and lift her lips in as much of a smile as she could. "We could use a little worse."

Not waiting for the brunette to reply, Steve clicked on his com. "He's here."

"_Who? Banner?"_

Nodding, Steve flushed when it took a second to realize that the Iron Man obviously couldn't see him. "Yeah."

"_Good. Tell him to suit up, I'm bringing the party to you."_

Harry wasn't quite sure what his husband had been up to since he left, but even he agreed with Romanoff when she asked exactly how a flying space whale heading straight towards them was considered a 'party'. Instinctively pooling his magic into his palms, Harry barely paid attention to the others, his focus solely on the massive creature nearing.

"Banner! Right now might be a good time to get angry."

"That's the secret-"

Tearing his eyes away from the monstrous beast for a split second, Harry watched as the man so like his husband; and yet not, walked towards the monster.

"-I'm always angry."

The transformation from man to Hulk was much swifter than the last. Feeling a small sense of pride as he watched the meek man take down the alien with a single punch, Harry quickly threw up a shield as Tony above them and blasted the body apart. Waiting for last of the bloody pieces of flesh to fall, Harry cancelled the shield and whirled around to take in the reaction of the enemy.

Chitari screeched from above, shaking their weapons in anger. Glaring right back at them, Harry noted where the closest ones to him were, before turning back to the others; Tony landing across from him as he did so.

"All yours Cap."

* * *

Steve's heart was hammering away like a jack hammer.

Never in his life had he felt the weight of the world so heavily on his shoulders. Not even the war had impacted him so much. That didn't mean that he hadn't done his part and fought; heck no. But at the same time, back then he had been fighting fellow men; he knew that he could beat them, cause they were made of the same stuff as him. They bled the same colour blood he did.

Even Schmidt, despite the soldier serum, was still just a man and could be killed.

This, however, was something completely different. They were out gunned, outnumbered, and had no idea how to close the portal and stop the bastards. Every building along the street was crawling with the aliens, with more coming thru the portal each second, making each kill pointless, as two more would replace it.

Glancing at each member of his team, Steve felt his heart rate quicken. It was in that one shining moment, as they stood there, a united front against the invasion, that the sickly kid from Brooklyn realized exactly why he had survived the plane crash.

He was meant to be there.

They all were.

Every single decision they had made in life, no matter how small, had led them all right there. It was always meant to be them saving the world. Together.

Looking at each and every single one of them, Steve for the first time noticed the glow they held. The sense of purpose and duty that radiated from their very beings. Each one of them was ready to lay their lives on the line to save the world. And each and every one of them, despite the lack of team unity and friendship, was looking to him to lead them.

Lifting his face plate, Tony stared at the blonde. Chocolate brown eyes boring into his ice blue in such a way that Steve could almost swear the man was searching for his very soul.

"All yours Cap."

Swallowing the fear he could feel bubbling in his chest, Steve straightened his spine and squared his shoulders. They were looking to him to lead them through this, and like bloody hell he was going to let them down. It wasn't what Bucky would have done, and it wasn't what Peggy would have accepted.

"Hawkeye," he barked, pointing at the archer as he did so. "I want you on that building, eyes on everything. Call out any strays or tactics. Stark I want you doing perimeters, anything get out four blocks, you turn it back or turn it to ash."

Slamming his mask back into place, Tony nodded once before grabbing Clint by the scruff of his shirt and blasting off. Glad that the pair took his orders with no complaint, Steve whirled around to the thunder god and continued.

"Thor, we need to bottleneck the portal until we can close it. You've got the thunder, use it. Light them up."

Not waiting for the man to leave, Steve spun around to the last of the group, and pointed at the redhead.

"Widow you're with me, we're going to keep it going down here. Keep them away from the civilians. Harry, you're the wild card. Hit them hard, hit them fast, and keep an eye out for the rest of us. Anyone runs into trouble, I want you there."

Barely acknowledging the Captain's words, Harry ran off to the group of Chitari already advancing on the ground control. Tightening his hold on his shield, Steve turned to the last member of their group and ground his teeth.

"Hulk!" Clenching the hand he used to point at the mean, green, fighting machine, Steve stared up at the big guy and hoped to god that he would listen. "Smash."

* * *

The battle was bloody.

Swinging from one alien to the next, Harry used every trick he had learnt over the years to take down the mongrels. Levitating an abandoned car, Harry smirked at the memory of Steve's recent growth spurt, as he sent it flying into the sky, hitting a chariot. When Coulson had come to him, he had stated that they wanted him to help lead the team, but he knew that wasn't what they were really after.

With a group full of alphas, they didn't need someone to come in and yell at them; that wouldn't have worked out at all. They had needed someone to show them that exactly why they were there in the first place, and what they were capable of doing together.

Swinging a punch at the grey creature that landed next to him, Harry took a few quick swipes, before landing a kick to the abdomen, landing it on its back. Swiftly hitting it with a freezing charm, Harry ran off to the next possible spar, thinking about how he had done just that.

Bruce had been the easiest. With little to no self respect, the man had let himself hide away from the world, believing that they would all suffer if he didn't. Admittedly, it was Tony that had done most of the work with the scientist, boosting his ego with praise, and demanding that he strut. But it had been Harry that had been the one to stand up to the Hulk with no fear and treat him like an equal, not a thing to be tamed or killed. He still had a long way to go and needed to talk to the man about his suicidal tendencies, but the building bricks were there, and that was a start.

Natasha was also easy to sway. By making sure Coulson had given her his file, and then being honest later, he had played to the woman's need to know all. In spite of the redhead's lack of trust and need to be in control, Harry could tell that she was in way over her head. She wanted help, but didn't know how to ask. By placing someone else in control, Harry had given her a way out, even if she didn't realize it.

Catching a flash of lightening in the corner of his eye, Harry slammed his weight into another alien, before turning his thoughts to the god. Thor had been a surprise to Harry. He had expected the blonde to be lording over them and demanding that they bow to his every whim. Instead, the big bulk of muscle had; despite his obvious knowledge of battle, understood that he may not know what was best, and left the role of leader to someone that came from Earth.

Rolling out of the way of an energy blast, Harry whirled around to face the bastard that fired at him, but found it already on the ground dead, with an arrow sticking out of its head.

Clint was his bitch; they both knew it.

No. The two biggest personalities he had had to overcome were Tony and Steve.

Tony was arrogant, rude, bitchy, and everything he had remembered him to be. The huge rift between them hadn't helped, but after clearing it up somewhat, the wizard knew the genius was once again putty in his hand. If he said jump, Tony would complain till the cows came home, but would eventually give in. There was still much they had to discuss, and even more that they had to work on, but for now, the man was doing as he was told, and that was all Harry could ask for.

Dodging yet another swipe to the chest, Harry aimed his fist at the creature's windpipe; crushing it with the amount of force used. Glancing over at the red and blue clad man working through the aliens near the bank, Harry let his eyes soften for a quick second.

Tony had told him all about the man six months into their relationship. Swapping stories of their parents, Harry had heard all about the Brooklyn boy that had wanted so hard to join the army, but was denied. About how he had made friends with Tony's dad, saved a hundred men by himself, and then saved the world by crashing a plane full of nukes into the ocean.

It was with this picture in mind, that Harry first met the shy man. And it was with that meeting, that he knew that the soldier was going to be the one to lead them. Pushing and prodding the man at every step, Harry forced the Captain to become stronger, to stand on his own two feet, and become the leader that they deserved. He had led an entire world into war, and he refused to be commanded by anyone that couldn't do the same.

It was when Steve took charge and the other's listened, that Harry felt for the first time that they were a team.

He knew that they still had a long way to go, and that there would be blood sweat and tears shed, but as he exploded an alien's head clean off, he knew that they could make it.

"_Oi Harry! I could use a hand up here."_

Glancing up at the sky just as a blur of red and gold streaked by, Harry smirked.

It had been along time since he had last felt the wind in his hair.


	13. Chapter 13

_"Oi Harry! I could use a hand up here."_

_Glancing up at the sky just as a blur of red and gold streaked by, Harry smirked._

_It had been a long time since he had felt the wind in his hair._

* * *

Tony whirled through the air, blasting at anything he could find. He could feel the drain of the day rest on his shoulders, but he refused to slow down.

"_Stark,"_ Clint's calm voice came, ringing in his helmet. _"You've got some sniffing your tail."_

Rolling over just in time to miss a bolt of energy, Tony glanced over his shoulder and swore. "Yeah, I've got them. Any suggestions?"

"_Well they can't bank for shit. Find a good corner."_

"I will take that into consideration." Aiming a shot of energy at the chariot to his left, Tony bathed in the glow of success for a millisecond, before boosting his thrusters. Diving into the street, he swerved left and right, the colours of his suit blurring at the speed. Noticing as the creatures chasing his tail became fewer, the brunette decided to make a game out of it almost a second too late, and twisted to his left. Thankfully the underground car park was empty.

Launching blast after blast over his shoulder, Tony almost let slip a cry of happiness when he made his way out of the death trap maze and no chariots followed.

"Thanks for the tip," he smirked, letting himself breathe for just a second. "Got anything else?"

"_Well Hulk's taking down a squadron on East."_

Already firing up his thrusters, Tony glided down the street and towards the destination. "And he didn't invite me."

Smiling when he heard the muffled chuckle that could have only come from the archer, Tony went to say something else, but stopped himself when he came face to face with a wall of chariot bound Chitari.

"Oh shit."

Brown eyes widening, the billionaire did a weird mid-air back pedal just as the closest one to him raised its weapon and screeched. Bolting backwards, Tony didn't care to look back and see if they were following.

"Cap!" He yelled out, hoping that the old man might help him out. "I have a problem up here!"

The voice that replied was muffled and slightly out of breath. _"What do you expect me to do about it Stark? I've got my own problems down here."_

Releasing charges without even looking, Tony whizzed his way back down the street he knew the ground team were on, hoping that they might do something. "I've got a bloody platoon on my arse, I need some assistance!"

"_Then get Potter to do it. He's on hunter duty."_

Growling under his breath, Tony mentally vowed that he would make the old geezer pay later, before sighing deeply and calling out. "Oi Harry! I could use a hand up here."

* * *

It was a swift and effortless movement on his part. Tugging the silver necklace he wore always, off, Harry waved his hand over it, and watched with anticipation as the charm on it grew larger. It took only a second, before the hand that was holding the silver chain and charm, wrapped its fingers around the solid mahogany handle of his trusty firebolt.

During the battle and long since after, he had not had the chance to fly. His broom had been one of the few things he had been able to keep hold of, and as he saddled the most cherished artefact, he felt like he had never left.

Pushing off into the sky, Harry let his eyes drift close for that one second. His entire body melting at the feeling of once more being where he felt most at home. Smiling faintly as he felt the wood beneath his fingers shiver in anticipation, emerald eyes were brought back down to earth, when the sudden sound of an explosion went off beside him.

Steeling his gaze, Harry searched the skies for his husband. Finding the red and gold tin can weaving his way through the buildings just right to him, the brunette whirled the broom around and lowered his body onto the hard wood. Speeding through the smoke hazed sky, Harry waited until he was just above the swarm of aliens, before letting loose. Spell after spell flew through the air, freezing, shrinking, or just simply exploding the vile creatures. It didn't take long for the grey beings to figure out where the new attack was coming from, but by the time they had, the wizard had already vanquished a third of them.

Continuing his mission, Harry used every trick he had learnt from quidditch to dodge the counter-attack, whilst still hitting them with his own. Iron Man quickly made his way to the wizard's side, hand pulsers aiming every which way.

"I didn't realize that you could fly," Tony yelled out, the background noise making it slightly hard o hear.

"I told you that I was a wizard," Harry shouted back. Flinging his hand out, he aimed for the Chitari from under Stark's arm, just as the other shot behind him over his head. "I thought flying was part of the image."

Twirling around in a rather choppy version of aerial ballet, Harry tightened his hold on the wood between his legs, and fired off yet another explosion. The last thing he needed right now, was to fall off, and with the way Tony was flying around him, it was a big possibility. Snarling as the amateur cyberman curled around him to get the Doctor Who rejects, Harry used it as a chance, and shot a few fire spells over the man's shoulder.

"Yeah, but a broomstick?"

Ducking just in time to miss a blast to the face, Harry rounded on the foolish creature and fired a melting charm straight back. It wasn't the most acceptable piece of magic, but if it did the job, then Harry didn't particularly care. "What do you think we rode? Vacuum Cleaners?"

Barrel-rolling just in time to avoid a hit to the head, Harry showed no emotion as his husband blasted the alien from the sky.

"I told you that you'd be- Harry look out!"

Whirling around just in time to avoid the chariot charging towards him, Harry grinned darkly as it spun around and aimed for him once more.

"Harry," Tony's worried tone called out. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Tony."

Despite the amount that had already fallen, both Harry and Tony were certain more had joined the fight. Growling in frustration, Tony scanned the area and snarled. "There's too many of them, we're going to thin the herd."

Crashing a chariot into the side of building, Harry glanced over at the glowing lights covering his husband's eyes, and grinned.

"I've got an idea."

* * *

They had been going at it for hours, or at least that was how Natasha was feeling.

Wrapping her thighs around her most recent opponent's neck, she made swift work of putting it down. Stealing its weapon, she quickly fired at the next two, before twirling around to face the next one she felt sneaking up behind her.

"Hey!"

Stopping just in time, Natasha lowered the gun and gasped for air.

"None of this is going to mean anything if we don't get that portal closed," she muttered, clutching at a stitch forming in her side.

Nodding in agreement, Steve lowered his shield and ran a hand over his sweat coated forehead. "Tony said that none of our guns would work."

"Well what if it doesn't have to do with guns?"

Eyeing the brilliantly dangerous woman before him, Steve couldn't stop the thought of Natasha being related to Peggy, from passing through his head. Opening his mouth to ask exactly what she had in mind, the Blonde stopped when he noticed something just in the distance.

"Is that Harry?"

Pivoting around, Natasha glanced around for where the Captain was pointing; finding it several feet from the air. "Oh my god," she whispered, her eyes widening in shock. "He's falling!"

The dark blob they had identified as the short wizard was several hundred feet in the air, and dropping. Several Chitari vehicles seemed to be following it, but that was not what the pair were worried about.

"Stark!" Steve's commanding voice yelled out, his eyes not leaving the dot as closer to the ground. "Where are you?"

"_I'm a little busy Cap, can we do this later?"_

"Tony, Harry's falling!"

The second pause between Natasha's words and Stark's reply almost made the assassin think that she had finally broken the Billionaire. When she heard the answer, she almost wished she had.

* * *

Clint had always felt best when he was up high and could see everything.

But right at that very moment, he wished he couldn't.

The battle had been going on for some time, and he could tell that the others were beginning to tire. No matter who many of the bastards they put down, there was always more to take their place.

Firing arrows off with such precision he would call it an art, Hawkeye kept his eyes on each of his supposed team mates, and helped them out when he could. Catching sight of the dumbass that had started the whole mess, Clint had just released a detonation arrow, when his sight caught something else.

Just off to the side, where he had been keeping an eye on aerial show, was Harry plummeting to the ground. Feeling the sudden ice freeze his veins, the archer watched as the swarm of aliens took pursuit; following one of his very few friend's on their descent. A million and one thought raced through his mind, but he knew that there was no way he would get to brunette in time. None of them could...

"_Stark! Where are you?"_

Steve's panicky voice rang through the com, the sound doing nothing to calm his nerves.

"_I'm a little busy Cap, can we do this later?"_

The hint of annoyance in the genius' voice almost made Clint crack.

"_Tony, Harry's falling!"_

The fact that Natasha's voice was wavering made the situation all the more real. His only friend beside Coulson, Fury and Natasha was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it, but watch. Tightening his hold on his bow, Clint stood stock still. A lone tear hid in the corner of his eye.

* * *

Tony hated this.

He knew the probability of it working, and the chance of Harry coming out of it alive, but he still bloody hated it. Watching behind his metal mask of his own design, Tony felt his heart stop as the only person he ever loved, smiled wickedly at him, and fell backwards.

The Chitari took the bait and followed, screeching in obvious pleasure at the thought of one of their adversaries falling. Taking out the last few that decided to hang around, Tony kept an eye on the group below him and waited for the signal.

"_Stark! Where are you?"_

Knowing that he needed to stay put, Tony didn't even blink as he answered. "I'm a little busy Cap, can we do this later?"

"_Tony, Harry's falling!"_

Gulping down the bile that was rising in his stomach, Tony nodded.

"I know."

* * *

The sky was the most natural place in the world to the wizard. Even when he was young and still with the Dursleys, he had always felt better somewhere up high. It was one of the reasons he made such a fantastic seeker.

So when the Tony had stated that they needed a plan, he knew what they had to do.

"I'm going to fall," he yelled out, his com obliterated after a close call.

"Are you insane?"

Shrugging, Harry sent more explosions towards the angered Chitari. "They'll follow me, and when they do, you pick off the stragglers. Keep an eye out, and when you see me give the signal, blast any that survive the drop with everything you've got."

"This is a stupid idea!"

"It's a little too late to think of another Tony."

Smirking at the man fighting beside him, Harry shot one last spell towards the enemy, before pulling his broom back. The feeling of the wind rushing past him was truly exhilarating. He didn't need to look back to know that the creatures were following him. Closing his eyes, Harry let his instincts take over, and simply enjoyed the fall.


	14. Chapter 14

The world seemed to slow in that one second. No one could bear the thought of the man dying, but in saying that, none could turn away and not watch.

Hearing the warning bells go off in the back of his head, Harry opened his eyes just in time to take in the intimate details of the cracked pavement in front of him. Pulling out of the tail dive just in time, the wizard steered his way through the rubble, his boot clad feet dragging on the gravel.

"Tony! Now!"

Dodging the plummeting chariots, Harry forced his way out of the mass and to the edge. Screeches of pain and anger followed him, as the bulky machines and their riders crashed brilliantly into the ground. Turning back around when he felt like he had moved far enough away from the swarm, emerald eyes took in the damage. Most of the Chitari had been too close to him, and with the lack of steering on their rides, they had had no chance of pulling up in time. The ones that were a bit further back, had been able to swerve away, and were now circling the street like disfigured vultures.

Pulling out his wand for the first time since the battle had started, Harry waved it above him in a complicated pattern. Shimmers of light began to surrounded the hoard, encasing them in an inescapable prison.

"Tony!" He shouted, sweat beading along his forehead. "Do it NOW!"

Feeling the exhaustion of the day finally catch up on him, the wizard pushed back the black spots forming in his vision, just in time to watch Iron Man blast the contained Chitari out of the air. Thor soon followed suit, and between the pair, the enemy was quickly destroyed. Lowering the shield, Harry slowly made his way back to earth, his hand gripping at the spot he had been stabbed not hours before hand.

"Harry!"

Glancing up, emerald eyes made out the form of his metal clad husband, just as his feet hit the ruined footpath. Leaning against an overturned car, Harry panted lightly as he transformed his broom back into the necklace and charm.

"Oh god," Tony's worried tone announced, his hands running over every inch of the wizard they could reach. "Don't you ever, and I mean **ever**, do that to me again. Do you hear me?"

Smiling back up at the worried brown eyes, Harry yanked the suit forward and sealed his lips over the billionaire's. "I hear you."

Moving back in for deeper, more passionate kiss, Harry halted in his tracks as the viscous roar of several space whales hit his ears. Pushing the man away, the wizard pecked his husband's lips once more, before running back into the fray.

They had a world to save.

* * *

When the tiny man with the shield had told Hulk to smash, the raging green giant and been confused. Happy to oblige, but still confused.

"_If we don't help, then the world will be destroyed."_

Slamming the pitiful creature into the side of the wall, Hulk growled. After living in the alone for so long, Bruce had slowly started to search for the reason to the Hulk's anger; theorising that the reason was the answer to the cure. During his research; that involved a lot of breathing exercises and herbal tea, the scientist had found himself becoming aware of the Other Guy's emotions, and then later, his thoughts when he was still in charge.

It was almost a humbling experience to find out that the reason the Hulk caused so much destruction was because he thought that it was the only way he could keep Bruce safe and away from the likes of the Ross and his lackeys. He also knew that if he ever told Tony as such, than the man would become even more impossible than he already was.

Watching the Other Guy as he landed on yet another vile creature and snapped it in half, Bruce tried to project his thoughts towards the Big Green again.

"_The other's need our help,"_ he called out, hoping that the Other Guy wasn't as dumb as he originally thought, and would at least understand some of what he was trying to say. _"They won't survive if we don't."_

"Hulk know."

Blinking in surprise, Bruce winced as he watched a bulky green hand wrap itself around a grey skull and squeeze. _"Y-you can understand me?"_

Grunting in affirmative, Hulk leapt across the buildings, and landed on the space whale Thor was trying to talk down. Swinging his fists around madly, Hulk latched onto a chunk of armour and ripped it away.

Not quite taking this new discovery in all the way, Bruce turned back to the side of his brain the Other Guy ruled and asked. _"If you understood what I was saying, then why did you never reply before?"_

"Bruce talk too much," Hulk muttered, slamming the sheet of steel into the back of the creature's neck, barely missing the Tin Man as he flew past. "Bruce don't like Hulk. Hulk only keeps Bruce safe."

Floored by the fact that he was having a conversation with the inner demon he had only believed to be capable of basic interaction, Bruce mentally ran a hand over his face and sighed. _"Will you help them? Will you not hurt the others when all of this is finished?"_

Covering his face with his arm as the alien barrelled into Central Station, Hulk waited till the thing came to a stop, before answering the other.

"Hulk not hurt others."

Sighing in relief, Bruce watched as the Hulk made his way up to the Norse god and stood quietly side by side, taking in the destruction before them. Thinking for the first time since the accident, that he may have finally made some form of breakthrough with the creature, Bruce almost rolled his eyes when a giant green arm slammed into the fellow Avenger.

_"Hulk!"_

* * *

Natasha was positive that she had never felt more relieved in her life.

Forced to turn away from the scene happening not too far away from her and Steve, the assassin put everything she had back into the fight at hand.

"You said that you had an idea," Steve called out, his shield flying every which way.

Flipping the alien onto its back, Natasha nodded. "I need to get to the Tesseract."

Swinging a punch, Steve made sure that the creature was staying down, before retieving his shield and making his way over to the red head. "You're going to need a lift," he commented, glancing around for any more potential threats.

Staring up at the few Chitari chariots that had survived the purge, Natasha nodded. "I've got one. Want to give me a boost?"

Lowering his shield without question, Steve waited till the woman had leaped onto it, before flinging her as high as he could. Spinning through the air, Natasha caught the first chariot she could and pulled herself onto it. Making short work of the solider on the back, the fiery red head pulled out her spare set of daggers and pounced on the driver, digging the blades in as far as she could.

"Ok," she muttered, using her grip on the creature to steer the foreign technology. "Let's do this."

* * *

Clint wasn't sure whom he was going kill after this.

Tracking everyone's movements, the archer continued his job of spotting strays and shooting arrows, all the while attempting to get his heart rate back down to a manageable level. The sight of the wizard he had once crushed on something fierce, falling like that, had shaken the strong willed man to his very core.

He had Natasha now, but the brunette had always held a spot in his well secured heart, and the fact that he hadn't seen the man for nearly three years had not helped the case at all. Growling at the looping mental image of the wizard becoming a splatter on the New York pavement, Clint fired yet another arrow and snarled through the com device.

"Stark when we're done here, you are to put that husband of yours in a secured room and keep him there. Understood?"

_"Oh don't you worry Hawk man,"_ Tony puffed, the sound of the ongoing battle around him coming through on the speaker. _"When we're finished, I'm not letting that man leave my bed. Where is he anyways?"_

Scanning the surrounding layout, Clint spotted him on the other end of Broadway, just as a very familiar dash of red streaked its way past him. "He's two blocks down. Nat, what are you doing?"

_"Um-I'm not sure."_

The indecision uncommonly found in the assassin's voice, forced a snort from the archer's throat. Covering it up with a quick cough, Clint knew that he would cop it later, but for now keep his eyes on the only female on their team. "You've got a group sniffing your tail."

_"Yeah I se- Shit! Clint it's Loki."_

Raising his loaded bow before the words were out of her mouth, Clint breathed in deeply. "I've got him."

Keeping both eyes on the target, Clint relaxed his shoulders as much as he could, and let go. The arrow zoomed through the air, cutting its way towards the moving target. Smirking as the arrow came closer and closer to its target, Clint felt it fall into a frown as a green clad hand appeared out of nowhere and stopped it millimetres from its destination. Not willing to take the snark lying down, Hawkeye twitched his finger down the specially designed bow, and pressed the third button from the top.

Ignoring the bubble of satisfaction rising inside his chest, blue eyes stayed with the Asgardian until he landed on the edge of Stark Tower. Flickering back to the red head, Clint let out a breath of relief as she too, landed, admittedly more gracefully. Knowing that Nat could take care of herself, Clint whirled back around and into the fray.

* * *

The battle was tedious, of that Thor was certain.

Raising his hammer to the sky, he called upon the lightening to smite the foul beasts were they stood, ignoring the fact that more were on their way. Steeling his gaze as the lightening hit its targets, Thor took once more to the air and searched for his fellow comrades in arms.

For that's what they were.

Before he had been banished, he had thought that the companionship he held with the Warrior's Three and Sif, and the love for his family had been more than enough to lead a rich life. To give everything you had to save that person because life would be nothing without them. But then he had fallen and met Jane, and realised that there was a hole in his life that he never knew existed. The young Midguardian had filled a portion of it, but not all.

Then he had been brought in by SHIELD and met the others. They had been rude, and vulgar, and rage filled, but held a spark of something much more.

Landing beside the slightly shaking wizard, the Blonde sent Mjolnir out to do his bidding. "This battle is pointless, if we cannot close the portal," the Thunder God boomed, Mjolnir making its way back to his hand. "Lady Natasha is doing her best, but I fear the worst."

Finishing off the Chitari warrior in his grip, Harry turned to the wall of muscle and grinned tiredly. "That is a very good thing to worry about," he quipped, sending an obviously weaker than usual fire spell at the advancing creatures. "Cause if you were fearing the best, than I'd be worried about you."

Quirking his eyebrow at the odd little wizard, Thor sent a lightning strike at the remaining Chitari. Elated by the sight of those hit, falling to the ground, the blonde turned to his fellow warrior and began to speak praise of his work, but fell short when he noticed the man slumped over and panting. Striding over to the grim covered man, Thor placed his hand on the other's shoulder in a gesture of good will, whilst searching him over for any visible wounds.

"Are you well, Son of Potter?"

Clasping his own hand over the one on his shoulder, Harry looked up and smiled weakly. "Yeah, just using more energy than my quota will allow. It's alright, just means no more magic till I power back up."

Frowning, Thor reached for the little black box Fury had him put in his ear, but was stopped by the look in the other's eye. "I really think you should retreat, young wizard. You have done your part, you will not last much longer if you stay."

Shrugging off the god's hold, Harry stumbled his way into a standing position once more, and looked the taller man in the eye. "You're a warrior Thor. You know retreat is not an option. Go see if anyone else needs assistance, I'll be fine."

Knowing that the stubborn man before him would not budge, Thor tilted his head in acceptance, before whirling his hammer around and taking to the sky in search of the others. He would leave the brunette to his own conviction, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't tell the Man of Iron about his partner's foolishness.

* * *

Bruce never thought that he would ever enjoy the Other Guy taking over, but as he flew through the air, taking on beings from another realm, he couldn't help but feel slightly giddy. Smirking at the small whoop the scientist let loose, Hulk made his way through yet another street to reach a swarm that were unknowingly making their way towards the underground tunnels.

Landing on two in one go, Hulk used his brute strength and fierce will to quickly take care of the rest. Glancing around for his next target, Hulk tilted his head slightly when he felt Bruce's interest suddenly spike.

_"Loki,"_ Bruce said in way of explaining. _"I just saw him above us, he landed on the top of Stark Tower."_

"Loki bad?"

Nodding, Bruce glared out from behind green eyes. _"Loki started all of this. He tried to kill Harry and Coulson."_

Feeling the rumble in his chest get louder, Hulk pushed down on the ground and flung himself into the air. Harry was the name of the magic man he had faced on the flying ship, and even though Hulk wasn't usually very good with other's he still felt something nice about people that didn't attack or run from him. He got the same feeling about Tin Man.

_"It's called respect,"_ Bruce supplied, following the other's thought pattern. _"You like them because they like you and don't fear you."_

Grunting in agreement, Hulk pushed himself off one last building, aiming for the Tin Man's Tower. Grabbing the green man as he landed, Hulk rolled along the floor and flung the man across the room. Standing back up, Hulk crouched down so he wouldn't hit the roof, growled as threateningly as he could; banging his fists on the ground as he did so. Watching as Loki slowly made his way back to a standing position, Hulk took a step forward to grab the man once more, but stopped when it decided to speak.

"Enough! You are, all of you are beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature, and I shall not be bullied-"

Glaring down at the oily haired man, Hulk mentally turned to Bruce in question.

_"Smash."_

Grinning in response, Hulk swiped at the man, and, grabbing his leg, smashed him into the floor. Repeating the process many times, Hulk sniffed in distain as he finally let go and walked away, leaving the man in a crater of his body's own creation.

_"He's not a man,"_ Bruce prompted, his own thoughts slightly gleeful. _"He's a god."_

Sniffing again, Hulk made his way to the broken window and prepared to jump.

"Puny god."


	15. Chapter 15

It had been over an hour since the battle had begun; and Fury felt like breaking something. His one good eye was in the medi-ward under enough drugs to take down an elephant; his ship was one glitch off falling out of the sky; he had no visual on the fight itself...

...and now the dumb ass Council had decided to blow up one of the largest cities in the world, because they had no faith in his team.

"Director Fury, the Council has made its decision," the lead; and whom Fury considered to be the most arrogant, member announced.

"I recognise the Council has made a decision," he ground out, glaring at the screen before him. "But given that it's a stupid ass decision, I have elected to ignore it."

Glaring right back at the warrior, the only female Council member spoke as diplomatically as she could. "You would risk the possibility of losing everything on a hunch?"

It was more than a hunch, they just couldn't see it.

"You send that bird out, and we already have."

Having had enough of the idiots that thought they ran the show, Fury swiped at the screen, closing down the connection. Scrubbing at his face tiredly, Fury turned around to face his crew and muse over the whole debacle.

He had always known that the Council was against the Avenger's Initiative. They were the ones that had attempted to deny it when he had first came up with the idea. It had been an uphill struggle from day dot to even get the paperwork through; and when the time had come to do preliminary reports and reviews, the only way he had gotten the old codgers off his back, was by dedicating an entire SHIELD base to the study and modification of Hydra weapons. Something that he had been strongly against doing since the beginning.

And now, because the world was in danger and the Council couldn't see what was going on, they had decided to ignore him and blow up the city without care to how many innocents were still there.

"Sir!"

Focusing his gaze, Fury turned to his second in charge and raised an eyebrow in question.

"There's a bird preparing to take off," Hill called out, her eyes not leaving the screen.

Racing over to see for himself, Fury growled in frustration as the live feed of the runway came into view. "Tell them to stand down. No-one is to leave."

Knowing that the brunette would do as ordered, Fury raced out of the room and towards the landing strips. It was just like the Council to do something as underhanded as this; using his own men against him, because he wouldn't do it himself. Snatching a missile launcher off a bench as he past, the Director kicked open the metal containment door and snarled. When all of this was done, he was going to have some serious words with his staff.

Scanning the area, Fury quickly spotted the jet firing up, and aimed. He knew the soldier was only following orders, but it was against his, and that bull shit was just not on. Not in his department; and defiantly not on his ship. Waiting for the plane to taxi itself away from the other jets and further down the tarmac, Fury flared his nostrils and fired.

The resulting explosion was quick and effective, taking out the front wheel and half of the jet's wiring. Nothing that couldn't be fixed. Eyeing the hunk of metal as it skidded to a stop, Fury debated as to whether or not he was going to throw the pilot into desk work for the rest of his miserable life, when the sound of another jet firing up hit his ears.

Dropping the now useless grenade launcher, the Director stalked his way across the landing strip; his hands automatically reaching for his gun. Watching as the plane took off, Fury aimed the almost laughable weapon at the aircraft, knowing without even firing the thing, that it would make no difference.

The Bird was gone.

Twirling back around, Fury holstered his pistol once more, and marched his way back to the Hellicarrier's entrance. The situation was out of his hands now, but that didn't mean he couldn't help stop it.

"Stark?"

* * *

The hoard was pouring through the portal by the hundreds. It was only a matter of time before it became too much for the heroes.

Skimming across the sky, Tony sent as many blasts out as he could, hopping that any second it might stop. Pulling up just in time, the billionaire halted for a second too long, and quickly found himself flying through the air against his own will; smashing into a bus stop on his way down. Laying on the sidewalk with only a vague idea of how he got there, Tony glanced around at the Chitari surrounding him, and groaned. Could this get any worse?

"_Sir, power is at twenty percent."_

Apparently it could.

"Not at the moment Jarvis."

Attempting to shake off the attacks hitting him from all sides, the brunette aimed his palm blasters at the infuriating aliens, but missed by several inches. The response fire did little damage to him whilst in his suit, but he knew that if he stayed there, than it would be only a matter of time until they found something that would.

"_Stark?"_

Growling at the static appearing on his helmet's screen, Tony aimed another blast at the grey creatures, smirking when it finally hit target.

"Not now, Fury. I'm busy."

"_You've got a rogue heading your way,"_ Fury growled back, obviously intending to have his say, whether the other wanted it to hear it or not. _"It's carrying enough punch to take out the city."_

Shit.

"How long till it gets here?"

"_Three minutes."_

Pushing himself up onto his hands and feet, Tony took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm on it. Jarvis, convert all power to the thrusters."

"_Converting power now."_

Ignoring the attempts the Chitari were making to keep him pinned down, Tony forced his aching body into a standing position, and fired up the suit's thrusters; catapulting him into the sky.

* * *

It was becoming too much.

The past few hours had been long and tiring, and now his body was screaming at him because of it. Punching the creature in front of him, emerald eyes flashed in annoyance, when the merely looked back; its face almost mocking him. Punching it again, Harry used the other's momentum against it, and quickly dragged it forward so he could get to the cords running along the Chitari's neck. Ripping them out with less satisfaction than earlier, the wizard let the nonresponsive body fall to the ground.

He was at breaking point, he could feel it. His body was still recovering from being stabbed just only that morning, his magic was sorely depleted, and his muscles were crying out in pain with every movement he made.

"When we're done here," he muttered, looking around for the next target. "We are so going back on the circuit. You're getting flabby mate."

Groaning when he caught sight of a small hoard making their way over, Harry lifted his arms in preparation to fight, but stuttered when his knee suddenly gave out. Glancing down, he took in the very human blood gushing down his pant leg, and groaned even louder. By the look of it, someone had gotten a lucky shot in earlier, and he hadn't noticed due to the exhaustion his body was under and the fact that the rest of him was littered with cuts and scratches.

Glaring up at the advancing Chitari, Harry grabbed the closest piece of wreaked metal to protect himself with.

"Well," he snarled, pushing himself into a standing position, despite the sudden head rush that came with it. "Come and get me!"

Screeching to the skies, the joyous warriors trampled their way across the damage street and towards the damaged wizard. Lifting the sheet of bent metal higher in preparation of the first blow, Harry waited for it to come, but was surprised when nothing came. Feeling the strain on his leg become too much, the brunette dropped heavily to the ground, and sighed.

His vision was becoming blurry due to the lack of blood, and if he didn't receive medical attention soon, the wizard knew that; even with his allergy to death, he was going to end up in a comatose state for a long time. Trying to see past the black spots, emerald eyes were able to pick out flashes of red and blue against the dull grey and brown.

"Harry?"

Knowing that voice, Harry tried to make out its owner, but could only catch hazy shapes clashing with one another. Shaking his head, he tried desperately to clear it. He was in the middle of a war, and even if he couldn't die, the others needed him. Using the last of his magical reserves, Harry forced the gash in his leg to stop bleeding, before standing once more and shuffling towards the fight.

There weren't many Chitari left by the time he was moving again, and with a few quick moves, the trio had destroyed the remainder. Slumping against the nearest object; which happened to be a garden wall, Harry glanced up at the pair that had come to save him and nodded.

"Thank you," he muttered, not feeling up to saying much more.

"It of no consequence, young wizard," Thor boomed, his spirit not the least dampened. "You are our comrade, we will always be there to assist."

Nodding, Harry took his time to look over each of them to make sure that they were both still on one piece. Frowning when he caught sight of the nasty scratch running across the captain's abdomen, Harry motioned to stand up, but was forced straight back down.

"You're hurt," he remarked, motioning to said infliction.

Running his hand across it absentmindedly, Steve shrugged. "Not as much as you."

Opening his mouth to give his standard 'I'm fine' speech, Harry was interrupted by the arrival of more Chitari and an explosion from up above. Ignoring the spear wielding aliens, Harry raised his head to the sky, searching for the cause of the sudden noise.

"Captain!" he shouted. "Isn't that the tower you sent Hawkeye to?"

* * *

Clint was so over this. He had been mind controlled by an alien from a different planet, seen his best friend nearly die, and watched as his partner was attacked by the army they were currently trying to stop.

He needed a raise.

Growling in frustration as the Star Trek rejects finally began to work together and attack him as a group, the blonde pushed them back as much as he could, but was halted in his movements, when he suddenly ran out of arrows.

Knowing that he was in deep trouble, Clint took stock of what he had left. Ripping a used arrow out of the nearest body's chest, the archer slammed it back into his quiver. Changing the arrow head one last time, Clint watched with half a mind, as the chariot bound Chitari threw what he could only suspect was a bomb, towards him.

Without even thinking, Hawkeye flung himself over the balcony, and into the sky. Twisting his body around, Clint reached for his only hope, and loaded it onto his bow. Ignoring the drumming of his heart as it pounded away against his ears, Hawkeye pulled back the string and took a deep breath in. On the exhale, the archer let go.

* * *

The land hadn't been one of her smoothest, but considering the variables, Natasha thought she had done pretty well. Mentally grumbling about the fact that only Tony Stark would have bloody stones on his roof; regardless of the fact that he didn't have any form of garden, the assassin made her way quickly over to the Tesseract and the unconscious man beside it.

Not knowing whether or not the good doctor was himself yet, Natasha decided to leave him be and focus on the machine at hand. She knew that she wasn't as tech savy as Stark and Banner, but she did know enough to know that everything had a kill switch; one just had to find it.

"Ugh."

Glancing over at the only other person on the rooftop, Natasha raised her eyebrow in slight surprise. "It's good to see you back Doctor."

Holding a hand to his aching head in hopes of relieving the pressure, Eric looked up at the person whom had spoken to him and frowned. His mind was a muddled mess, thoughts swimming around with no sense of order. Shaking his head a little, the balding man made to sit up, but fell right back down when the pain in his head became too much.

Noticing that the other man's eyes were no longer swimming with the power of the Tesseract, Natasha tiptoed over to him and placed a calming hand on the Doctor's shoulder.

"Doctor Selvig?" she softly spoke, knowing that it would keep the man calm. "My name is Natasha Romanoff, I work for SHIELD-"

"I know." Staring back up at the fiery red head, Eric gave a small chuckle. "Hawkeye showed me a photo of you once. He is very smitten over you."

Pounding down the heat that threatened to encase her cheeks, Natasha used all her training to ignore what the man had just revealed. "I'm going to need your help."

* * *

The landing was not one that the SHIELD agent ever wished to do again. Hacking at the lack of air in his lungs, Clint arched his back in pain, as the adrenalin left his body as quickly as his breath had. Feeling millions of glass shards poking into him, Clint made to sit up, but yelped when his shoulder flared up in pain.

"_Clint? Hawkeye, can you hear me?"_

Groaning at the noise suddenly assaulting his ear, Clint closed his eyes in pain.

"Yeah, yeah," he coughed out, his chest protesting loudly with each movement. "I'm still here."

"_That's good to hear soldier. How are you fairing?"_

Using his uninjured hand to pluck a rather large piece of glass out of his thigh, Clint muffled back a moan. "Um-yeah, I'm fine-"

"_Bullshit."_

Eyes snapping wide at the sound of the shortest member of their team's voice, Clint couldn't contain his snort. "Nice to hear from you too, Har. I thought you lost your com?"

"_I nicked Thor's."_

"Ah."

Focusing on the fight he could hear over the com device and not the pain his body was going through, the blonde knew that his friend wouldn't give up until he heard the truth. Deciding to get it over with, Clint mentally went over his body, cataloguing anything major.

"I've got what feels like two cracked ribs, some gashes due to the glass, and a dislocated shoulder," he tallied off quickly, hoping that Natasha wasn't listening. "You?"

The other end was silent for a moment, making Clint wonder if the other man had caught anything he just said.

"_Magical exhaustion, blood loss, and a bloody big tear in my favourite pair of pants."_

Huffing out a laugh, Clint tried to focus on his friend's voice, but could feel the niggling worry worm its way into his head.

"I'm a sitting duck Har."

"_Romanoff's working on the Tesseract right now. Just hang in there."_

Shaking his head, Clint scrubbed his hand over his face. "Stark couldn't close it," he chocked. "I love Nat but she doesn't know what to do-"

"_Pull your head together Barton."_

Perking up at the new and overly feminine voice hitting his ear, Clint tilted his head so he could see the portal out the window. "Nat?"

"_Don't make me come over there and kick your arse."_

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Sighing into the com, Natasha spoke the five words they had all been waiting to hear.

"_I can close the portal." _


	16. Chapter 16

_Sighing into the com, Natasha spoke the five words they had all been waiting to hear._

_"I can close the portal." _

* * *

Towers whizzed past him in a blur. The sound of the wind whistling past, deafened only by thickness of the helmet. Pushing his suit to go faster, Tony zipped his way through the streets and over the open water.

"There you are."

Straining himself, Tony put everything he had into reaching the jet. Calculating how much further away the jet was, the brunette was just about to add the last detail to his plan, when the bottom of the jet slid open, and the self propelled bomb fell out. Snarling as the chunk of warfare flew over his head, Tony payed no attention to the annoying chatter happening in his ear, and sharply turned mid-air.

Forcing the suit to catch up to the explosive device, Tony rushed back through the city, smirking when he was within reach. Laying his back along the shell's underbelly, the billionaire lifted his arms over his head and wrapped them around it; slowing down his thrusters as he did.

He had little power as it was, and was going to need every ounce of it to pull this thing off.

* * *

Steve was fighting tooth and nail.

The Chitari had decided to focus their attention on any of the team members they could find, and unfortunately, that was mainly the ground team.

"Thor! Keep that side covered."

Nodding once, the Norse god slammed his hammer into the nearest creature, shifting his stance to cover more ground. Since Harry had become damn near useless, despite what the wizard said, the trio had taken to defence rather than their original attack mode.

With their backs against a wall and Harry huddled up in the wreckage, Steve had ordered Thor to give the brunette his com device so he could keep an ear out for the others, whilst him and the demi-god pushed back any potential threat.

Slamming his shield into yet another snarling face, Steve ducked just in time to miss a blow to the head.

"Hawkeye's fine," Harry shouted out. "He's in bad shape though. Someone needs to go get him."

Finishing off his most recent opponent, Thor glanced over to the super soldier and nodded. "I could aid him-"

"No." Flinging his shield off into the swarm of Chitari, Steve shifted his feet and readied himself for his safeguards return. "As long as Barton stays down, he's safe. I need you down here."

Bowing his head in acceptance, Thor raised Mjolnir above his head, and moved off to partake in the battle once more. Following suite, Steve threaded his arms through the shield's handles once more, when suddenly his com flared back to life.

_"I can close the portal."_

Stunned by the sudden sound of Natasha's voice, Steve ducked a second too late, and ended up with a punch right to the nose. Blinking away the clear fluid as it came rushing into his eyes, the Captain repaid the creature in kind, before grabbing its head within his hands and twisting.

_"Can anyone hear me? I can close the portal!"_

Letting the useless sack of dead weight drop from his hands, Steve clicked his com over. "Close it."

_"Wait!"_

Figures. Of all the people on their team, why did it not surprise Steve that Tony was the one to go against his orders. "Stark, we don't have time for this."

_"Shut up Capsicle, I have a missile heading your way that's going to level the city. And I know just where to put it."_

* * *

The battle came to a standstill.

Enemies alike stood on the streets and on the buildings, watching as the blur of red and gold sped its way across the sky. But Tony knew none of that. Holding onto the missile as tightly as he could, the brunette watched as what he had only recently thought of as his pride and joy, came closer and closer.

_"Sir. There is not enough power to sustain the suit once it leaves. You know that this is only a one way trip?"_

Ah, Jarvis. Even now his dearest friend was trying to help his Master. Trying to stop him from what they both knew he had to do.

"I know," he whispered, chocking back the tears that threatened to fall. He was a Stark, and Stark's don't cry.

_"Would you like me to call Miss Potts?"_

Thinking of the fiery woman that had taken care and been with him through thick and thin, the brunette nodded.

"Might as well."

He knew that the call wouldn't go through; and even if it did, how could he pack everything he wanted to say to her into just twenty seconds? She was his rock, his confidant, his everything. She was the one that had first introduced him to Harry, and she was the shoulder he had cried on when he had left. She made sure that he didn't make too much of a fool out of himself in public, and when he did, she always made sure he felt guilty about it. Pepper was one of a kind, and he loved her for that. He joked about there being no Iron Man without Tony Stark, but the truth was, there was no Tony Stark without Pepper Potts.

Starting the thrusters in his boots up once more, Tony prepared himself for the last heroic deed of Iron Man. He hoped that when all this was over, everyone would understand. That Pepper would continue to look after his legacy and find happiness. That Harry would forgive him for breaking his promise. That he would stay with the others and move on.

_"Tony, what are you doing?"_

Coming up to the Tower, Tony gave every last ounce of strength into this last act. Pushing the head of the missile upwards, the brunette followed its directory, and quickly found himself climbing higher and higher.

_"Tony?"_

The portal was nearing.

_"Tony!"_

He was at the point of no return.

_"TONY!"_

Letting go of the still moving bomb, chocolate brown eyes watched through a cold and lifeless mask, as the monstrosity darted across space, and into the fleet of unsuspecting Chitari. Feeling the lack of air become too much, Tony took in the explosion with a sense of pride, even as his last link to earth flickered on the screen and died. Knowing that his was the end, the brunette closed his eyes and though on last thought.

_'I love you Harry.'_

* * *

Harry couldn't breathe.

His husband's words echoed in his head.

"Tony, what are you doing?"

Scanning the skies for some sign of his foolish husband, the exhausted wizard payed no heed to his trembling form as he pushed himself into a standing position. Catching sight of the Iron Man suit, Harry pressed the com device harder against his ear, hoping to catch even the faintest sound from the man.

"Tony?"

The device remained silent. Not giving up hope, the brunette hobbled over to the star spangled Captain, and ripped the ear piece out. Placing it to his other ear, Harry glanced back up at the sky and shuddered. The missile was being pushed upwards.

"Tony!"

The tension was climbing. Why wasn't he answering? He wasn't going to go thru the portal with it, was he? Emerald eyes widening at the realization, Harry pressed both communicators into his ears as hard as he could, and screamed.

"TONY!"

Steve and Thor watched in silence as the most arrogant one of them all flew his way across the air with a missile attached to his back. They made no move to stop the young man when he made to stand, Steve didn't even make a noise as the com device was violently ripped from his ear. But when they heard the heart wrenching scream pour from the brunette's mouth, they knew that they had to help.

Glancing around as the Chitari suddenly started to drop, the super soldier raised an eyebrow and glanced back up at the portal.

"He did it."

Nodding absentmindedly, Thor stumbled over to the young man and tried to wrap his arms.

"Nooo!" Harry shouted, struggling violently against the muscled arms. "No, Tony!"

Feeling his very soul shatter at the brunette's haunted cries, Steve ignored the tears forming in his eyes, and focused them on the sky.

"C'mon Stark. Where are you?"

* * *

It was Afghanistan all over again. His barely mended heart was falling to pieces all over again, and just like last time, there was no body to mourn over. Not taking care to notice the river flowing down his cheeks, nor the pain that his body was still in, Harry kept his eyes on the rip in time and space; hoping to god and every other deity out there, that for just this once they would grant him this one thing. Feeling the seconds tick away, Harry chocked back a sob, and pressed the com devices against the skull to the point that they were almost indented.

"Tony! Please!"

Feeling a pair of thick, strong arms wrap their way around him, pinning his hands against his head, the brunette unconsciously began to struggle. The hold was confining, and reminded him too much of the War.

"Let go!" he bellowed, his fatigued body doing little against the strength of the Norse god. "Let go of me! Tony!"

Finally feeling the limbs retreat, Harry dropped to the ground, his legs no longer able to hold him.

The explosion was visible for everyone to see. Knowing that if the portal remained open, then the destruction could continue through to their world, Steve gently pried one of the com devices from the brunette's clench hands and sighed. This was the worst part of being a leader.

"Close the portal."

Not daring to look at the broken man beside him, Steve kept his baby blues focused on the top of Stark Tower and nothing else.

* * *

Thor did not know what to do.

His new friend and fellow warrior had saved them all, and he could do nothing but stand there and watch. The young wizard's screams of anguish were like nothing the god had ever heard before. In Asguard, when a warrior passed on to Valhalla, it was met with honour and celebration, for it meant that the man had lived a good life and died the way all warrior's wish to go. In the heat of battle.

Coming out of his thoughts just as Captain America gave the order to close the portal, Thor sprung from his spot just in time to stop the wizard from doing any damage to himself or the Captain.

"Let go of me!" The brunette snarled, still reaching for the distraught blonde. "He can't do that. He can't leave Tony out there."

Lifting the short man up and away from the Captain, Thor turned the man around and lifted his face up so he could look the man in the eye. "The Man of Iron knew what he was doing," he spoke, hoping to comfort the distraught man with his words. "He gave his life to save the world. To save you. Do not dishonour his sacrifice by attacking those that he fought beside."

Watching as the brunette absorbed everything he said, Thor pulled the young one into his chest and used his body to shield him from the rest of the world as he broke down and cried.

"That son of a gun."

Glancing up at the Captain's words, Thor followed his line of sight until he spotted something in the sky that should not have been there. Whirling the body in his arms around, the blonde quickly pointed the falling figure out to the startled wizard.

"Tony?"

Cracking his first smile since the battle had begun, Thor watched as the light slowly returned to Harry's eyes. Tony had done the impossible and survived. Stomping down the bubble of laughter that threatened to explode from his chest, the Norse god glanced back up at the red and gold silhouette in the sky and frowned.

"He is falling too fast."

* * *

Hulk and Bruce were having a good ol' time. For the first time since they were shoved together, the pair were communicating and listening to each other. Picking up yet another creature to fling into the wall, Hulk growled in delight as he felt Bruce's eagerness in the back of his mind.

"Bruce happy," he stated, tossing a car at a passing chariot for good measure. "Hulk happy."

Chuckling at the statement, Bruce watched as the vehicle hit its target. _"That's because we're not hurting anyone,"_ he reasoned, knowing that the Hulk would somewhat understand._ "These guys are bad, and we're helping by stopping them."_

Nodding in understanding, Hulk sprang up and latched onto the nearest wall. The Chitari were still trying to attack him, but their weapons did little against his skin. Reaching the top of the building, Hulk gave a mighty roar and moved to attack the aliens surrounding him.

_"Don't you ever get tired?"_ Bruce wondered, watching as big green hands squashed the creatures like flies.

Grunting, Hulk shook his head. The fight was always more important than sleep; if he didn't fight, then he couldn't protect Bruce.

"Bruce more important."

Tilting his head at the answer, Bruce glanced around at the destruction. The creatures were still coming at them, but that did not worry the Hulk. Picking up the nearest Chitari warrior, Hulk lifted his arm in preparation to hurl the struggling body across the sky, but stopped when the creature suddenly became limp. Lowering his hand, Hulk frowned at the flaccid body. Using a great meaty finger, Hulk pocked at the thing a couple of times, but received no response.

Looking up at the rest of the roof, Hulk and Bruce took in the dead bodies and frowned.

_"How- unless, Hulk turn around and face Stark Tower."_

Not quite sure what the man was thinking, Hulk did as asked and shuffled around so he could see the building Tin Man owned. The nasty blue light was still above it; Hulk noticed with distain, but it seemed to be shrinking.

_"Oh my,"_ Bruce gasped, his excitement spreading. _"They did it. The portal's closing."_

Sensing the Doctor's happiness, Hulk bellowed into the sky. They had won. They had helped the others save the world, and maybe in doing so, had made some new friends. Watching in contentment as the blue hole in the sky closed in on itself, the pair where just about to jump back down and track the others, when the flash of gold caught the acid green eyes. Sharpening their gaze, Bruce almost felt his heart skip a beat when he figured out what it was.

_"It's Tony,"_ he gasped, not quite sure what to do._ "Hulk, it's Tony!"_

Jumping into action before the scientist could say any more, Hulk pushed his thick, green legs against the roof, and forced himself up into the air. The Tin Man was falling fast. Tearing through the air, Hulk scooped the motionless body out of the sky and tucked him into his chest.

_"Don't jostle him too much,"_ Bruce panicked. _"He may have broken something."_

Nodding once, Hulk continued his flight through the air, and latched onto the closest building he could see. Making sure that Tin Man was still secure and not flopping around like a rag doll, Hulk let go of the brick wall and fell to the ground.

Rolling his body mid air so that Tin Man wouldn't be squished under him, Hulk waited until he felt the ground on his back, before he let go.

"Tony!"

Glancing away from the man he had just saved, Hulk watched as the others made their way over; the girly blonde carrying the magic man. Shuffling out of the way so the others could get closer; Hulk tuned out Bruce's worried ramblings, and eyed the group as they surrounded the Tin Man.

"He's not breathing."

"Oh god. Tony?"

Staring at all of this with sheer terror, Bruce turned to his alter ego and growled. _"We need to change back."_

Shaking his head at the suggestion, Hulk continued to watch as the magic man became more distraught. "Hulk help."

_"He needs medical help,"_ Bruce frowned, hoping that the green giant might see reason. _"See that circle in his chest? That keeps him alive, but it's not on. The only way to restart his heart right now is to send a jolt through the electromagnetic and hope that it will kick start his heart. But I'm the only one that knows this, and I can't do it, unless I'm in control again, so if yo-"_

**"ROAR!"**

Blinking at the sudden deafening sound, Bruce glanced down at the now very alive and moving Tony Stark, and huffed. _"Or you could just scare everyone half to death, and see if that works,"_ he pouted.

Rumbling in happiness, Hulk hit his chest with his hand, and smiled at the shocked Tin Man. Glancing back at Bruce, he smirked. "Bruce think too much. Hulk help."

Unable to keep the pout on his face, Bruce smiled back.

_"Yes you did."_


	17. Chapter 17

_Rumbling in happiness, Hulk hit his chest with his hand, and smiled at the shocked Tin Man. Glancing back at Bruce, he smirked. "Bruce think too much. Hulk help."_

_Unable to keep the pout on his face, Bruce smiled back._

_"Yes you did."_

* * *

He couldn't breathe through all the tears that threatened to chock him. Mentally thanking the Norse god as he placed him next to his husband, Harry laid his head across the armoured chest and cried. This wasn't the way it was suppose to happen.

After all they had been through; both separately and together. After every fight and verbal dagger that they had thrown at each other; every moment of passion and love making. After losing each other once already, this was not how it was suppose to end.

Digging his fingers into the unlit chest plate's grooves, Harry let out all of the pain and anger that he had kept tucked away. Tony was his beautiful, bright star. He was the one that saved the brunette from his nightmares; that kept him sane and somewhat whole. Even when he thought him dead, and then later found him to be alive, Tony had been the one happy thought in Harry's mind...

...and now...

He didn't know what to do.

Taking no notice of the clear liquid sliding its way down his tear stained face and onto the cold metal, Harry gripped the suit as hard as he could, and let the suffocating darkness that had been surrounding the edges of his vision slowly take over. When he awoke, the pain would return, but for now...

...he would remain numb.

* * *

He was alive.

Oh dear God he was alive.

Weighed down by something incredibly heavy; but still alive.

Too tired to do much else, Tony lifted his head slightly so he could see who was surrounding him, whilst trying to regain his breath and lower his heart rate. The sudden loud noise had been a shock to his system, setting his heart off like a jack rabbit in heat. Catching sight of ol' Stars and Stripes and the Shakespearian reject, the brunette said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Nobody kissed me did they?"

Rolling his eyes at the recently deceased man, Steve unconsciously glanced up to the sky in a truly heroic fashion and smiled. "We did it."

"Yeah, go team!" Lowering his head back as far as he could with the suit on, Tony sighed. He was alive, the threat was over; and his mouth was still rambling off, despite the lack of communication between it and his brain. "- its two blocks down. I don't know what it is, but we should try it."

Not quite understanding what the Man of Iron was trying to convey, Thor shook he head and frowned. Whatever it was, it would have to wait. "There is still much to take care of."

Glancing up at the hammer wielding god, Tony pouted. "Then Shawarma?"

Chuckling at the face the brunette was pulling; Steve stumbled over the debris, and made his way over to the metal clad man. "C'mon Iron Man," he grinned, holding out his hand in offering. "We've got a trickster to take care of. Thor could you take care of Harry?"

Taking the offered hand, Tony began to pull himself up, but stopped when he noticed the mess of hair that seemed to be attached to his chest plate. Following the hair line until he came to a grime covered, blood smeared, and overall, blotchy face, Tony frowned "Um-Not that I'm not thrilled that he's laying all over me," he mused, not taking his eyes off the wizard. "But why is my husband covered in blood and unconscious?"

Gently placing his hands under the shorter man's lithe frame, Thor raised him off the billionaire and tucked him comfortably into his chest. "He was injured during the battle," he murmured, not sure if his loud voice would wake the young man, but at the same time not willing to risk it. "He fought very well. I am honoured to have been at his side; his tale will be told for many a years to come."

"Uh-huh." Swaying slightly on his feet, Tony swatted away the soldier as he tried to help stabilize him, and moved over to the passed out man in the god's hold. "That still doesn't explain why he's flopping around like a marionette that had its strings cut."

Steve sighed. "He's just exhausted Stark. We all are."

Twirling around to face their Captain, Tony took a second to check him over. The blonde was right, they were all tired and beat up. Some more than others. Taking in the dark bruise forming under Thor's left eye, and the gash sluggishly bleeding through Steve's suit, Tony nodded in defeat, and motioned for them to follow him.

Frowning, Steve did as the man beckoned, but still asked. "Where are we going?"

Glancing back at the soldier, Tony rolled his eyes. Of course Army boy would be the one to as the dumb questions. "Rudolph is in the tower," he explained, bending over slowly to pick up his ruined face plate. "So is Natasha. So that's where we need to be."

Not bothering to see if the blonde understood, the drained owner of Stark Industries shuffled over to the giant green man that had been standing off to the side, and grinned. "Thanks for saving my chops there, Big Guy."

Rumbling, Hulk stared back down at the red and gold man. "Hulk help."

Patting the tree trunk of an arm in front of him, Tony nodded. "You sure did buddy. Do you want to help again?"

Thinking for a second, Hulk slowly tilted his head, his acid green eyes stying firmly on the man before him. "Bruce ask why?"

Raising an eyebrow at the question, Tony filed it away for later, and shrugged. "Cause we need you," he stated. "Both of you. We're a team now; and if you do this for me, than you can come with us to catch the Bad Guy."

Having what Tony could only assume was an internal battle, Hulk stood there for a moment, before he grunted. "What does Tin Man want?"

"Ok, first of all its Tony, or Iron Man; and secondly, I need you to go pick up a stranded bird."

* * *

Clean up was not one of Fury's favourite parts of a mission. The paperwork alone was enough to turn him into a towering rage. But it needed to be done, and if he wished to keep his job; which he very much did, than he was the one that needed to do it.

Placing a finished report on the progress of repairing the shattered windows in the Empire State Building in his Out box, the Director was just about to pick up the next folder that needed his signature, when a sight for sore eyes pocked its head through his door.

"Director?"

Slapping the folder back down onto his desk, Fury stood from his chair and stalked around the desk. Opening the door wider, he motioned for the man to sit down, before closing the door once more and returning to his desk.

The Agent; for all that had happened to him, seemed to be recovering quite well. His arm was still in a sling, and the doctors refused to sign off on him being able to much more than paper work until the medication was no longer needed; but the fact that he was up and moving so quickly, was cause for celebration.

"It's good to see you still moving," Fury smirked, his eye still taking in every detail of the man before him. "It would have been impossible to find a replacement for you."

Chuckling, Coulson grasped at the still healing wound, and hissed. "You'll have to lay off on the jokes for a while, boss," he smiled, taking in the man in front of him just as much. "The doc warned me not to strain myself too much."

Nodding in agreement, Fury finally looked away, and picked up the folder he had previously abandoned. "So what brings you to my lair?"

Straightening his back, Phil eyed his boss, friend, and confidant, and hoped that what he asked would be granted. "I heard that the Avenger's Initiative worked," he stated, knowing that they both knew that he had really hacked into the system and found out from there.

"It seemed to have done its job," Fury agreed, signing the bottom of the sheet. "The perpetrator and the Tesseract are scheduled to leave with Thor at noon tomorrow, and the Chitari are no longer a threat."

Bowing his head in agreement, Phil stomped down the urge to fidget, and continued. "And what of the others? What is to happen to them?"

Dropping the pen back down onto the desk, Fury glanced up at his most valuable man, and raised an eyebrow. "As far as I'm aware, they plan on going back to where we found them before all of this. Phil I know what you're thinking, and it won't work. They were barely able to work together for a short period. To combine them long term-"

"Think about it," leaning forward, Coulson dropped the mask that he wore every second of the day, and stared at the man before him, pleading for him to understand. "If what they accomplished two days ago was them barely tolerating each other, how would they work if they really were a team? You've said it yourself, there are threats out there that we have no chance of stopping; but they do."

Letting the words sink in for a moment, Fury let out a deep sigh, and scrubbed his hand over his face. The agent was right, he always was. "You know that the Council won't like this." He stated, hoping that the other man would understand exactly what he was coming up against.

Smiling, Phil lent back in the seat and nodded. He knew he won; they just had to go through the usual banter now. "I do sir. I also know that you've never given a damn about what they say."

Chuckling, Nick slid open the bottom drawer and pulled out a bottle and two glasses. "No," he agreed, pouring a healthy amount into each glass. "I suppose your right about that."

Handing over the second glass, Fury took a good sniff of his, and relaxed against the chair. "You know that they're going to need supervision."

Smiling at the thought, Phil nodded. "They are a bit like children aren't they? Well you'll just have to send over a super nanny."

Grinning, Fury raised his glass in salute. "I know just the one."

* * *

The battle had been over for two days.

SHIELD was all over the clean up, having the city back up and running with no dead bodies littering the walkway, the very next morning. A lot of work still had to be done, but it wasn't their problem...

...or at least that was how Tony saw it.

Lifting the glass of warm whiskey to his lips, the iron armoured saviour glanced out over the city as the blood red sun setting in the distance. Not wanting to really move or return to the Helicarrier after the whole fiasco, Tony had offered the lower, less damaged floors in the Stark Tower to the others. Bruce and Clint had readily agreed; each already falling asleep where they sat. Natasha had followed the flightless bird, not willing to leave his side, and Harry really had no choice, seeing as he was still unconscious with no sign of awakening any time soon.

The only two that the billionaire had yet to receive an answer from, was Steve and Thor.

Taking another sip of the auburn hued drink, Tony let the burning liquid slide down his throat and take his mind away from the chaos of the last couple of days.

"May I sit here?"

Glancing up at the blonde, Tony motioned towards the empty chair beside him, and poured another glass. "You've been surprisingly busy, Cap." He muttered, handing the drink over to the stiff man beside him. "I thought you would have been kicking it back with the rest of us."

Taking the offered drink, Steve forced himself to relax, even as he shook his head. "There was much damage caused during the battle," he explained, not looking at the brunette. "If I can help get people get back on their feet, then that's what I'll do."

Chuckling, Tony kept his gaze on the setting sun, and nodded. "That would be the answer I'd expect from Captain America."

Pursing his brow at the light jab, Steve decided to let it go, and took a gulp of the drink in his hand. Forcing back a cough, baby blues glared down at the glass and watered. "W-what was that?"

Filling his own glass back up, Tony grinned devishly. "It's called Firewhiskey. Harry used to be nuts for the stuff, so we had the cellar stocked with it. It's a bit stronger than the normal stuff; and could literally peel paint off walls, but still goes down well and gives a good buzz."

Deciding not to take his chance with the rest of the liquid in his glass, Steve placed it down on the side table, and turned to face the brunette.

"Thor's announced that when he finishes his business in Asguard, he will return," he hummed, hoping to come off non-chalet.

"Mmm?"

Taking that as a positive, the blonde lent back in his chair and continued. "And from what the others have been talking about, I've picked up that they've decided to stay in town for a little while longer."

Knowing what the super soldier was trying to ask, Tony gently put his glass down and faced him.

"My dear Captain," he grinned, one eyebrow raised. "Are you asking to move in with me? You know I'm a married man."

Scowling, Steve turned away from the smug genius, and shrugged. "Well," he muttered, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. His cheeks glowing under the dying sun. "I mean, you did offer after the battle, and it does seem silly to not have the team in the same place-"

Patting the man on the shoulder, Tony picked up his glass and tilted it towards the blonde. "Captain Rogers," he asked, as formally as his face would allow. "It would be an honour, and my absolute pleasure to have you living here with us, at Avenger's Tower."

Flushing brightly, Steve tossed a grin at the brunette, and queried. "Avenger's Tower?"

Nodding remorse, Tony tossed back the last of the liquid, and sighed. "Once Bruce and I are done with the remodelling I plan on doing, it will be a kiddies wonderland for you lot. And besides that, why would I want my name on this old dump? I'll have you know, that I have four other Towers being put up in cities all over the world at this very moment, and they'll all have my wonderful name, shining in bright lights."

Shaking his head in amusement, Steve glanced out of the broken window, and hummed. "So where will this 'Avengers' team be staying until their tower is built?"

"At Iron Man's Malibu house, of course."

Laughing, Steve and Tony settled back into the cushioned chairs, and watched in comfortable silence as the last rays of light disappeared from the sky.

* * *

I would like to thank absolutely everyone for all the wonderful comments I have received! It's because of the awesome feedback that you gave me, that this story was posted so quickly, if at all. Unfortunately this is the last chapter for this story, BUT it is just the beginning...

~chuckles evilly~

I will be continuing on with this plot, but because uni has just started back up again and I have a lot of work on my plate, I might not be able to update as quickly as I have been L. So, what will happen when Harry wakes up? How will the Avenger's react to living together in a confined space? How will Pepper react when she finds out Harry is back? Is Coulson going to regret keeping them together?

I guess you're all going to just have to just keep reading to find out...

Lots of love,

Hard-headed-woman.


	18. NOTICE: Sequel!

*****NOTICE*****

Sorry, should have put this put ages ago... But for those that don't know, the sequel to 'The difference one more makes' is up! (YAY!). It is called 'the difference working together makes', and it focuses on how the now formed team learn more about each other, and use their new found bonds to go up against one of their greatest foes ever.

How will Harry react to Tony being alive? How will the world react to a team of superheros? How will Pepper react when she gets back? All these questions and more will be answered!

Thanks once again for reading, and I hope that you all continue with the sequel :) (double choc chip cookies if you do ;) ).

Your exahusted writer,

Hard-headed-woman.

P.S.

Here's a sneek peek at some of the first chapter...

_The day was starting out the same way as any other._

_Waking to the alarm clock beeping away, a stripe pyjama clad arm snaked its way out from under the feather down doona, and gently clicked the aging machine off. Stretching, dark blue eyes stared up at the dull grey ceiling for a moment and reflected over the last couple of days._

_The Chitari incident had been blown all over the social media, making it impossible for the Council to sweep it under a government cover-up and wrap it up with a bogus lie. Instead the group of leaders had left it to Director Fury to sort out. A decision that they had later come to regret._

_Fury had given the group of assassins and superheros free reign over what they wanted to reveal, and in true Stark fashion, Tony had called a press meeting without notifying anyone else, and revealed not only his part in the whole debacle to the world, but the presence of the others that fought with him, and how they were there to save the day._

_"-we're called the Avengers. Why? Because if we can't save the world; then we'll damn sure avenge it!"_

_Fury and Steve had torn into the child prodigy for that stint, but like usual, Tony had flicked them off and poured himself another drink._

_Deciding that it was time get up and ready for the day, the man pushed back the covers and made his way to the bathroom._

_The cleanup of the city had not taken long, considering the resources SHIELD had at their disposal. It had been just over a week since the battle for New York had taken place, and the city was back to moving to its own beat again. There were the believers, the sceptics, and the non-carers, but they all still moved on, just like they always had been._

_Sneering at the mirror, deep blue eyes watched meticulously as the toothbrush made its way through his mouth, foaming up the teeth with each motion. Spitting out the nasty tasting necessity, the man slapped his recently shaved face, before making his way back into the bedroom and quickly changing._

_The most recent work related injury to his body had finally healed to the point that he could return to his job, and he was not going to waste any time. Picking up the duffle bag he had packed the night before, steady feet made their way down the hall and into the study. Pulling out the set of keys he kept on him at all times, calloused hands clicked open the hidden safe, and pulled out the top secret files from within._

_This was the last time he would be in his house for awhile, and the last thing he needed, was for someone to break in and find information that could bring down the government, or implode the national security._

_Taking one last glance at the empty house he barely spent time in, Phil Coulson switched the alarm system on and walked out of the unassuming front door. Nodding politely to the driver waiting for him, Phil jumped into the simple black SUV, and put his seatbelt on._

_He had some children to take care of._


End file.
